Hell and Heaven
by CrystalDreams72
Summary: Set after the second game. Delta gets a new member. More about Baird and his relationship with the new member as war still rages. Not really focused on Romance as much as the war.
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I do not own Gears of War or any of the characters from Gears of War. I only own . Ezra Morg and a few other characters that make an appearance that wasn't from the games.

Oh so I hope you enjoy the story. And please review or email me. Let me know if there are any suggestions are what not. But most of all I do hope you enjoy the story.

BTW this rated M for Language, intense violence, and some smut.


	2. Another Great Author's note

**Okay so here is some great news. I don't have to go out of town, and my old comp works. Well other great news is I am going to rewrite Hell and Heaven. I have had time to reread alot of it and I thought to myself, why didn't I proof read this before I posted it? Or why did I not explain that better? So I am rewritting it so I can make it better. I have had some feed back saying that they liked it, well if you like it now, trust me, you will like it even more now. I am wanting to stay as true as I can to the GOW style and to do that I think this needs to be rougher around the edges. So please if you like this bare with me. **


	3. Chapter 1: Pain

**Authors Note: Okay so this is the Rewrite, it is pretty much the same just more. Um please I beg you to review this one and email me to let me know if it is better. And please let me know anything because I was so excited to update this I did it on my phone while I was at a family dinner. So please review. ------ I am so begging lol.**

The pain was unbearable in that way that her very insides felt like they were on fire, but some how she managed. She laid among the rubble form the Locust attack that had happened only moments before. They had said it was over, until she had proof it really wasn't. Her entire squadron had just been annihilated by a Locust Horde, only proving that it was far from over. Hot blood sifted through her fingers that desperately tried to plug up her fatal stomach wounds. But trying to stop the bleeding didn't work, she was now laying in her own pool of blood, in fact she was covered in her own blood. At that moment she would have rather been covered in smelly Locust blood. Infact she would even rather be covered in Locust guts, which smelled so much worst then their blood. Just as long as it wasn't her own blood. She heaved to the side, throwing up her military pack meal that she had eaten hours earlier. Throwing up only made her stomach wounds, as well as her other wounds, hurt like hell had set off in her body.

The pain she felt made her want to black out, or just go ahead and die. But for some reason, at this moment she was still living.

She was on a cliff and her eyes wondered below, to where she heard marching, to where Jilane once stood. (Jilane was a city under COG control) No she not only heard the marching in the rubble that was once Jilane but felt the ground rumble beneath her. Her breath caught in her constricting throat. Fear gripped her so hard that she couldn't look away from what surely would be the end of Sera.

She turned on her COMM radio and heard celebration commotion. "Stop fucking celebrating you dumb fuckers. This is far from fucking over." she said through gritted teeth, she let her anger and pain come out in her voice. Her eyes continued to scan the Locust Horde that marched beneath her. There were enough Locust down there to populate half of Sera alone. Fear ran through her body faster then the blood pumped from her wounds.

Everyone was on the same frequency so to her dying pleasure, everyone heard her angry confession. "Staff Sergeant Morg, what's your status?" asked Hoffman into his COMM piece.

"Shot and bleeding out, sir. Don't bother with me though. Will be dead by the time you get here." she mumbled as she tried to remove some of her COG armor so she could be more comfortable when she died. She threw away the constricting breast plate that finally became free after a lot of tugging and grunting on her part. "Don't worry soldier, we are on our way." said Anya Stroud over the COMM radio.

"Bitch." she whispered to herself as she tried to stop the bleeding of her stomach again. What part about bleeding out did they not understand, and would be dead by the time they got here, she thought to herself as she busied herself with the stomach wound. She then crawled a few feet out of sight, screaming in agony as she did so, any moment she was sure to die. She would rather die bleeding out, then by a stray locust or wrench who happened over her body. She felt Sera rumble beneath her still. The feeling sent chills up her spine. "You are wasting your time coming here. A click away there is the entire Locust nation marching around like its a fucking Christmas parade. They will kill you." she coughed into the ear piece. She didn't hear what Anya said to her though.

In the horizon she saw two king ravens. She snorted loudly before dying a painful death.

Xxxxxxxx

The king raven had almost touched the ground when SGT Marcus Fenix was jumping off and heading toward the outline of SSGT Morg. He could barely see her among the rubble, but the boots sticking out from the debris gave her away, as well as the darkening blood trail there. Once he reached her he shot her in the neck with epinephrine syringe. She screamed and woke instantly, grabbing her chest. Her heart raced so quickly that she was sure that she would die from her heart exploding with effort from the drugs that he just gave her.

As quickly as she came too, she slipped back into unconsciousness. But at least he knew that she was alive and the epinephrine would help keep her live for a little while longer while they tried to get her to safety.

Marcus with the help of Dominic Santiago helped pick her up and carry her back to the awaiting Raven. Helping hands of the rest of the Delta squad dragged her dying body on board. Marcus and Dom quickly climbed in after they had her body situated.

As the Raven lifted off, everyone started to help with stopping her bleeding. She woke several times as they tugged at her COG armor, wincing in pain, then succumbing to darkness again. She protested slightly then slipped back away as she grabbed hold of the nearest person to her, which was Damon Baird. "Bitch's a trooper." stated Baird as he removed her iron grip on his forearm. It took a minute to remove her hand. "And fucking tough too." he grumbled.

Dom produced a small pocket knife and started to cut her shirt away so everyone could see the damage of her wounds as well as the dark green lace bra she was wearing. "Now where do you get a bra like that in times like these?" asked Dom. Cole reached out and felt one of the bra straps. He smiled as dirty thoughts filled his mind, in fact most of the Delta sqaud were having naughty thoughts about the battered woman on the floor, except Dom, he simply stared at the bra in fascination. Anya turned and looked at everyone gawking at the bra that SSGT Morg was wearing. She coughed loudly to bring everyones attention to what they are supposed to be doing. Everyone gave a sharp intake of air after letting their eyes wonder away from the bra. No one believed the damage they had found her in. This was not a gun shot wound, it was scrap metal wound. Meaning that she had been standing near a grenade when it went off sending metal and debris into her stomach. They then looked at her shoulder, which produced them with the knowledge that she had suffered at the end of a sniper's rifle. And once they had cut away some of her pants leg, they revealed a shot gun wound on her outer thigh. The stomach wound and the shoulder wound were the more serious of the three. The gun shot wound was bad, but was taken at an angle so the worse part of that would be she might experience some trouble walking.

"Baby is a fine trooper to be still alive." said Cole as he watched Baird start to inspect her stomach wounds.

With a grimy finger he searched one of the holes in her stomach. His finger slid smoothly into the slick wound due to the amount of blood there. Finding the metal scrap was the hard part. Anya glanced over at Baird, and turned green, it was something she would never get used too, cleaning out wounds. Bile rose to her throat as she watch his finger slip deeper and deeper into the wound. She closed her eyes and looked away before she lost her lunch. After a few minutes of carefully feeling around in her stomach, with his index finger, he found one of many pieces he was looking for. He frowned and looked up at Marcus as he removed his finger from her. He wiped the blood off his finger onto his pants leg as he shook his head.

"She is going to need surgery, otherwise she will die of infection." he said. "Infection you just gave her from your dirty ass finger." stated Cole in complete disgust, no one noticed that he was as green as Anya. It was because of his dark complexion. He was glad no one noticed that he wanted to hurl. Everyone rolled their eyes. Marcus then pulled out a wicked looking knife that he kept on his side. He tried to pass it to Cole who just shook his no. He then waved it in front of Baird. "Can't too squeamish." he said as he declined. "You just fingered her in the stomach with your gross ass finger. And you say you are too squeamish baby?" asked Cole. "Well cutting on people is not what I do best if you know what I mean Cole." he replied.

Marcus then tried to pass it to Dom. " How can you ask? I have too many deaths on my hands." Dom whispered as he thought about how he had to put a bullet in his own wife's skull only a few days before. Marcus sighed knowing it was up to him. He gave a silent prayer and sank the knife into the first hole he found on her stomach.

She woke with a start of pain making the knife twist deeper into her. Her eyes widened in horror at the knife inside of her stomach, and a silent scream lept to her lips. "Get that shit away from me!" she yelled trying to get away. Nothing worked because Baird held her down by her shoulders. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. She grabbed around, hoping for a hand or anything to grab a hold of. Dom's hand came more than willingly.

The woman might be a bitch but everyone knew that pain. It was something so painful that it caused some of the nicest people to become someone else, someone nasty or hateful. "I said get that fucking thing away from me." she cried. She _was_ actually crying. She choked on a sob and squeezed her eyes shut. "You do realize if we don't do this now that you will die of infection, if you don't bleed out first that is." explained Marcus as he steadied his knife hand. Her breathing became labored and she tried not to move. Her black eyes bore into Marcus' dark blue ones. "Hey cock sucker, you have to knock me out." she said as she turned to look at Baird.

"Bitch, what did you call me?" he asked, not sure he had heard her clearly. He was sure no body spoke to him like that, not even this woman in pain.

"I said knock me out, you cock sucker who likes it in the ass." she cried, tears streaking her dirty blood stained face. He stared at her shocked for a moment and tried to understand what she was saying. He processed what she said and then he lost his cool.

Without a second thought, he rocked her world with his fist to the right side of her face. The world blissfully went out like a light for her.

"What the hell?" screamed Anya from the second pilots seat, shocked that she just witnessed Baird knocking a woman out. "Anya hush. She needed to be knocked out. The pain is too much for her to bare." said Marcus. Her pretty green gold eyes flashed with intense anger. He had never told her to hush before, and she knew he was stressed but it wasn't something she wanted to get used to or planned on getting used to. She went to speak but their eyes met and she sighed ane looked away. He then looked back down to his task.

Finally after a few minutes of silence, Marcus fished out the first fragment of debris.

"Should have just left her for dead." said Baird as he looked down at her mangled body, angry with her. "Look." demanded Cole as he pointed to the ground below. Everyone looked over and sighed. SSGT Morg was right. They were doomed. Beneath them marched the Locust horde she had mentioned. "We are doomed." mumbled Marcus as he went back to his task.


	4. Chapter 2: Sewn Together

**Authors Note: Okay so here is the rewrite of the second chapter. Hope you like it. Pretty much all of these are the same but with added things, or better dialogue in my opinion. Please review!**

One week later…

"So you are telling me that when we go to move again that _she_ is going to be in our squad?" asked Cole as he stared at Hoffman. Hoffman missed the hopefulness in Cole's voice.

Hoffman sighed, they didn't even really know this woman, and yet they hated her, or seemed to hate her. Hoffman nodded and watched as Cole's face lit up. Okay, well Cole was the only one who didn't hate her. "Yes, no more sausage fest for the Delta Squad, baby." he said happily. Anya coughed and the rest of them groaned. "Anya last time I checked you aren't out there being fired at." said Baird with a smirk. "But you are important to the team." said Dom quickly to cover up for Baird. "Hey! It is the truth! She isn't out there getting shot at. Not like our new member will be." he sneered at Dom. "Baird, how about you practise shutting the fuck up." demanded Marcus. He glanced at Anya that gave him a thankful smile. "Baird you might regret those words later when I lead your ass straight into a grub hole." she said in satisfaction. Cole patted her on the back. "Baby, you are good." he laughed. "So SSGT Morg will be with us?" asked Marcus as he looked back at Hoffman as he loaded some cargo onto an cargo truck.

"Yes. She will of course be demoted so she won't be in charge of the Delta Squad, since her rank is higher than yours at the moment." said Hoffman. "She must be good at what she does to out rank Marcus." muttered Dom as he helped load the cargo truck. He looked at what he was carrying, medical supply. It always made him feel weird about having to move medical supply.

"She is battered to hell and back. Why don't we just leave her? Its not like she can help us? She will hold us back anyways." expressed Baird angrily.

"We won't leave her and I have had enough bad mouthing about my niece! She is a good woman, and you have to stop judging her before you even know her. I have seen some of you act worse then she has when you have been shot up!" Hoffman yelled, more at Baird then anyone else in the Delta Squad.

Everyone stared at him. "She is your niece? Huh must run in the family." Marcus said more to himself than to anyone else.

"Yes, she is my lovely niece." said Hoffman.

"You can quit lying, she is nothing close to lovely." said Baird with a laugh.

Hoffman had it then. He turned to look at the younger man in the eye. "Let me tell you something boy. My niece has more to her then you will ever know. It doesn't matter if there is war raging or not, she is lovely." said Hoffman angrily. "Well Hoffman, I must agree with Baird, she isn't so lovely." said Marcus with a laugh. Everyone but Hoffman laughed at that. "Maybe in a month or too she might be good looking again, and when she does look good, she needs to watch out baby. Cause I am going to make my move." said Cole with a big grin.

"In your dreams Cole, when she gets better, the only name she will be screaming is mine." snickered Baird as he hefted his lancer assualt rifle on his shoulder. Again everyone laughed but Hoffman.

"I swear she will scream both of your names when she is trying to kill you. Like Hoffman is going to to do if you two don't shut it." said Dom with a smile.

Hoffman stared at them, how could they talk like that? But then he remembered when he was younger. He couldn't act like he hadn't ever talked like that about anyone. He sighed and went back to looking at his map and disregarded them the rest of the time they had to spend together.

Xxxxxxxx

She had been bed ridden for a week now and she was horrified for several different reasons. First, she was having a hard time walking, and she was almost sure she overheard a nurse saying that she might have a permanent limp. That was one thing she relied on a lot was being able to move freely in this war, and a limp would hinder her greatly. Two, the outside world sounded like it was being blown apart. It was terrifying to lay in a hospital bed, and listen to people die outside the window, and not be able to do anything about it but listen and pray for the people screaming. And lets face it, praying wasn't really helping like she had hoped it would. It didn't stop the shreiking she heard at night when people were attacked by wretches or bloodmounts. Both animals were known for tearing people apart, in a most brutal fashion.

The nurses tried to reassure her by saying that everything out there was going smoothly but she had a hard time believing it, plus she wasn't gullible, she knew that smile the nurses gave her was a false reassurement smile. She hated being lied to. Anyways it was hard to believe it was okay when there were constant disaster sirens sounding out there and the constant sound of bombs and the rumble of the ground from it. Forget being okay out there, it was a bloody nightmare and she knew it.

As the long days passed she was becoming sure that she was going to die in this filthy hospital bed, in this sorry excuse of a hospital. She didn't complain openly about it because why would she? Sera was mostly rubble now anyways. Couldn't complain about something that was in the best shape it could be.

She then swung her legs over the bed and finally stood without the help of anyone. The bathroom was exactly four steps away. She knew, she counted every time that a nurse helped her there so she would know when she couldn't stand the embarrassment of being helped by a nurse. On shaky weak legs she made it there, but not without pulling at her stitches, which she had many of. Twenty here and there on her stomach where the fragments had gotten her, fifteen on her left leg, and seven on her shoulder.

She had not anticipated living or living looking like sewn together doll. She stared at herself in the dingy mirror in disgust. She lifted her hospital gown and stared at herself. She really did look like a sewn together doll. The stitches looked like a five year old sewed her back together. They were angry red, and scattered all over her abdomen. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, which she quickly blinked away. "I'm fucking hideous." she said to herself as she pressed a finger to her stomach making her wince in pain, that was another thing, the pain was so intense that she actually had a hard time breathing or thinking straight. She wondered if the pain would ever go away on its own without the aid of drugs. She sighed heavily and rolled her black eyes.

She quickly did her business, then stumbled back her bed.

That night she cried herself to sleep in self pity and pain.

Xxxxxxxx

Fighting at night was always the worst. There were no more kryll, thanks to the lightmass bomb that Marcus had dropped on them, wiping their asses out of existance. But night was still always the worst. "Hey Marcus, can you see anything? Cause where I'm sittin' I can't see shit." said Baird into his COMM radio.

"Listen, punk just shutup and hold your position." stated Marcus angrily. Baird rolled his eyes. "Dumbass." he whispered. Cole chuckled as quietly as he could and looked at his friend. "No reason to shake in your boots baby. Cole Train will protect your sweet ass in the dark. I know how my baby don't like it with the lights out." Cole laughed, he loved teasing Baird, who sometimes really seemed to be afraid of the dark. "Can you two hush?" asked Dom over the COMM. "I don't even need to use the radio to hear you two assholes." explained Dom in an irritated voice.

"Baby, don't get your panties in a wad." said Cole into his radio.

"Shut it. I got movement to the east, it is small, so possibly just a wretch." said Marcus as he tried to focus his sights on his Longshot.

"One wretch usually means twenty wretches." said Baird with a laugh.

Then that ear piercing screech filled the still night air. That movement was definitely a wretch. "Baird, they are closer to you." said Marcus. Baird repositioned himself against what was left of the bakery store's wall, so he could see. He squinted his eyes and looked through his own Longshot snipers rifle. Nothing, he saw nothing in this darkness. He knew there was something there, he had heard the screech. But there was nothing to be…There it was.

The wretch was squatted on top of a dead body, picking what was left of the meat on the bones. "Sick son of a bitch." cursed Baird as he took shot. The bullet hit its mark, knocking the wretch back a few feet. It didn't die because it was hard to judge where a kill spot was on a wretch was. It screeched loudly again, like it was calling for help. Its mouth was open, showing its bone crushing fangs. Baird took the opportunity to shoot again. This time the bullet hit the inside of its mouth, knocking it to the ground, finally killing it. "Shit, grub hole!" yelled Cole as he pointed next to were the wrench had fallen.

Before they all knew if the night was filled with gun blasts and grenade explosions. Baird and Cole stayed their ground as they both turned into killing machines. And a dangerous machine they were together. Cole let three frags fly high as Baird laid down some cover fire. "Fuck yeah! A head shot!" yelled Baird as he literally blew a head off one of the Locust's who was trying to make its way to where Marcus and Dom where at. It was always such a satisfying feeling when you blew a Locust's head clean from its shoulders. Baird grinned ear to ear, more the satisfied with himself.

Cole and Baird both laughed as they started to make a game out headshots with their Longshot rifles. "You two are sick." said Dom as he heard Cole yell out ten. "Eleven!" yelled Baird as he dropped the last disgusting grub with a sickening shot to its ugly head. "When this shit is over Cole, I think this means you owe me twenty six beers." said Baird. "And you are the only one who keeps count." grumbled Cole as he stepped close to a grub that was still alive.

He curb stomped it roughly, then grumbled when he got blood on his freshly cleaned boots. "It is war Cole. You are going to get dirty." said Dom as he came to stand next to them. "Especially if you are going to curb stomp them. " added Marcus.

"That is what I keep trying to tell the big oaf, but he never listens." said Baird.

"Careful guys, a click away there is another grub hole forming." said Anya into their COMM radios.

Everyone of them grumbled and started towards the hole, ready for some more midnight action.

Xxxxxxx

"Watch out Baird!" yelled Marcus. Baird turned around, revving his chainsaw. He was faced with a grub trying to bare down on him with a familiar Lancer assault rifle. Baird lifted his into the air and let it block the grub. With all his might he put his weight against his gun so he could overpower the grub. Cole turned and shot the grub in the leg, causing it to falter, giving Baird the chance to chainsaw the grub from the neck down down to its navel, well that was if they had navels.

Chain sawing was nasty business, especially when it came to chain sawing a Locust grub. Blood, muscle, fat, and all other kinds of innards went flying into the air, and landing on Baird. He disengaged the battered body from his gun and took a step away frowning. With a gloved hand he wiped the blood and guts off his face. But that didn't stop the blood from dripping from his cornsilk hair. He shook his head like a dog, trying to get the blood out of his hair.

"Red looks good on him." said Marcus after shooting a grub in the face to make sure it was dead. "And purple looks good on you." retorted Baird angrily.

"And both of you look great in dresses and high heals. Can we go now? Our shift is over." said Dom as he started walking back to what the COG called a base, laughing at Baird and Marcus who stood back and grumbled.


	5. Chapter 3: I Hurt

**Authors Note: Here is the new Rewrite of Chapter 3. Let me know if there is anything wrong with it. And thanks for the few emails I got. Please review.**

"Shit!" screamed Baird as a wretch viciously clamped its fangs down on his arm. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit! Someone help me get this damned wretch off of me! Any fucking time now!" he screamed as he tripped back over a old fallen column of the run down building that they were in. The wretch growled into Bairds arm as it swiped its powerful claws at his face. He then proceed to punch the wretch in the face, doing nothing but causing it to clamp down harder on his arm.

He screamed in pain as well as fear. It was not uncommon for these little beasts to bite off an arm, and if this thing bit down any harder it might start to break the bones of his forearm.

It took a full, painful, minute for someone to get to his side to assist him. But he didn't care as long as he got some help. Marcus gripped the wretch by its powerful jaws and started to tug the wretch off of Baird's arm. Its sharp fangs cut deeper into skin, and pulled roughly at it. His head flung back against the ground, with a scream caught roughly in his throat. He imagined this is what birth felt like, being torn little by little.

"Sorry Baird." said Marcus as he continued to pull at the wretch, until it was far enough away from Baird to shoot it. He pulled out his gnasher shotgun and pointed it at the part of the wretch the wasn't clamped to Baird's arm. Without a second thought he shot, blowing the beast into literal bits to litter the already bloody ground. Blood and flesh flew through the air and onto Baird's face.

The only solid thing left of it was its mouth. Its jaw slackened and fell to the ground to where the rest of it laid.

Baird laid on the ground a few moments to gain whatever composure he had. Once he stood he patted Marcus on the back with a thanks, but then instantly sneered at him. Marcus shook his head at him then grabbed Baird's injured arm. "You are going to have to get that seen about. It may not need stitches but those things are filled with bacteria and disease. Don't want to risk an ugly infection." he said.

Baird snatched his arm away, and glared at Marcus. "I will be more then fine, thank you." he muttered angrily. He walked away towards where Dom and Cole where waiting, they had already finished off the rest of the wretches while Baird was needing rescuing. He hated when Marcus fathered the team. Sometimes Baird wondered if Marcus noticed he did it. Wasn't it enough that he saved Baird? Did he really have to pretty much tell Baird to go to the doctor to get checked out too? He huffed loudly as he continued to think all the mean things about Marcus that he could. It always made him feel better to think about mean things about Marcus. He smiled to himself, pleased.

He then looked at his arm. "Damn." he mumbled, knowing that even though he hated to admit it, he had to go the doctor, just like Marcus had said.

Xxxxxxxx

He watched her sleep, and she looked very disturbed. Her face contorted, and she frowned. He wondered if it had anything to do with the way her body now looked. He had been there when Marcus had attempted to try to get all that debris out of her. Marcus had done a good job, and as clean as a job as you could do when you were in a Raven. She was frowning now, and gripping her sheets into her fists, until her knucles were white with tension.

Then she woke up with a start, and her black eyes immediately bore into his. "Uncle Victor, how long have you been sitting there?" she asked as she sat up, careful not to pull at her stitches.

"Just a few minutes, my dear." he lied, he had been sitting there for an hour. He studied her face while she slept, in a way she resembled his late wife, and he wanted to try and remember what she looked like. Those black eyes ran in the family, and his wife had had them too. "How old are you now Ezra?" he asked. "27." she answered. He nodded and stood up. "Well I guess I will go now." he said.

"Oh I see. I wake up and you want to leave. So much for company." she said as she relaxed against the pillows. She glared at her uncle who only stared down at her with a grin on his older face. She like the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. It was a rare thing to see him smile.

A nurse then walked in to the room, and turned to shout, "There is a spare bed in here."

"SSgt Morg I am going to close this curtain so we can bring in a new patient." said the nurse as she turned back to face Ezra so she could shut the curtain.

Victor Hoffman looked at his niece with a bigger smile, a smile more rare then the last one. "Now you have a roommate, so that means your company problem is solved." he laughed, another rarity. She glared at him, not thinking him funny at all. "Uncle Victor, just go if you must." she said as she closed her eyes. He sighed and bent down to kiss her forehead. And with that he left her alone.

A few moments later she heard some rustling and voices through the curtain. "Doc, do I really need to stay in this filthy place?" asked a deep voice.

"Like I told you already Lance Corporal Baird, wrenches carry all kinds of bacteria and diseases, and we have to keep you here a few days to make sure nothing develops in that wound. The last thing you want is infection. We would have to amputate it." said the doctor who was on call tonight. She heard some sighing from the one they called Baird. Why did that name seem familiar? She thought to herself.

"Okay. Fine." said Bairds deep voice, in what seemed like anger.

The nurse then opened the curtain to reveal the man who she had asked to hit her on the Raven, that was why the name Baird seemed familer. He laid back and hadn't noticed her yet. She stared wide eyed at him. After a few minutes they were left alone in the dirty hospital room.

"This place is a mess." he remarked as he looked around. "If I don't get infection from the wretch, surely I will get one from being in this place."

She huffed, and he finally looked over at her. He choked as he stared at her. "It's you!" he said loudly, like it pained him to know that he was sharing a room with her. "Yeah it is me, the evil bitch is what I think you called me." she said sourly at him. His head fell against the pillows in exasperation. "If it makes you feel any better, I only said that because you are an evil bitch." he said, trying to make a joke. Silence greeted his joke. He turned his head to look at her. She was glaring at him, with what looked like unshed tears in her eyes. He sat up. "Look I am sorry." he said actually meaning it for several different reasons. He was sorry he said that to her, and he was sorry about how he had said all those mean things about her yesterday. Ah the power of unshed tears to make a man apologize when they wouldn't have for any other reason.

More silence filled the air. It was several silent minutes before she spoke. "I have to use the bathroom, but they said they didn't want me moving by myself. But every time I call that bitch to help me she shows up twenty minutes later. I know there aren't that many nurses and apparently this place is packed, but I really have to go, and I would rather go now."

He tried not to laugh at her. She wasn't phased by what he had said to her, she just had to go to the restroom. "When I get up, don't look." she said as she swung her legs over the bed. After the first time she had used the bathroom on her own she had gotten in trouble, because she pulled at her stitches enough to make them bleed. "Well if you aren't supposed to move without help, why are you?" he asked.

She sighed. "I have to go now, so I am going to go now, not twenty minutes from now." she said as she stood on shaky legs. She used the rolling IV pole as a crutch.

"Do you need me to help you?" he asked, feeling sorry for her limping to the bathroom. "It's only four bloody steps. I can get there." she said nicely, well as nice as she could to a man she sort of despised. But then she faltered. She bit her lip to keep from screaming as she fell to the ground. He was at her side in a moment, trying to help her stand back up.

Tears fell down her face as he helped her to her feet. "Just help me back to bed, please." she said. "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped her sit back down on her bed. "No, I think I am bleeding again." she cried. With the back of her hand she wiped her nose. "Here let me look." he demanded. She pushed his hands away gently though. "No, I am naked underneath. I can't wear clothes like you are getting to do." she said.

He looked up at her, seeing her blush a deep crimson. "It is fine, you don't have nothing I haven't ever seen. Or I can just call the nurse and she will be here in twenty. That's a long time to wait to find out if you are bleeding or not." he said, moving his hands to her hospital gown. Her face fell. "But I am hideous." she finally blurted out angrily. "I think since this war started, everyone is hideous." he said hopeful that would lift her spirits.

She looked away from him, feeling uncomfortable now that he said that. He took that as a sign to look at her stitches. He moved her gown enough to look at her outer thigh, which was fine. "Okay, turn a little so I can see your shoulder." he said. He untied the top of the gown to look at her back. Her shoulder stitches were fine too. He retied her gown and then moved to her stomach. He bunch her gown a certain way to move it so he could hide her nakedness from himself, which she was thankful for. Her stomach stitches looked fine too, but he was amazed at how marred she really was. She did look bad, in the sense that she looked to be sewn together in many different places.

"Good news, you are not bleeding." he said. He moved her gown back, and moved away from her. "You make it sound like there is bad news." she said, in a self conscious voice. "There is bad news." he said. "Then what is it?" she asked. "You are not that hideous." he said with a smile. Nothing. Was this woman impossible to joke with? He thought angrily.

She looked down at her lap feeling awkward. "You are so weird." he spat as he took another step away from her. "I know." she replied in almost a whisper.

"What's your name?" he asked, trying to change the subject before he became pissed off with her.

"Morg." she said.

"No, your first name. I know your last name." he grumbled at her.

"Ezra." she whispered.

"That is a beautiful name. Just like you." he said shocked. She shocked him, she did have a very beautiful name, and in truth he didn't think she was bad looking either.

She looked up at him wide eyed. "No matter how many scars you have, you are beautiful." he explained. She just stared at him. "What is the matter with you?" he asked angrily. "I am in a lot of pain." she said. She slapped a hand over her mouth, she hadn't meant to tell anyone that, but she just did. "If your in pain, then ask for pain medicine." he said. "I did, three hours ago." she cried. He looked at her with pity, this woman was a nut case because she was in pain, not because she was well just a nut case. "I am usually not like this, but I hurt so much. Plus I feel so ugly." she admitted, feeling better for getting things off of her chest. It was nice of him to say she was beautiful, but she couldn't believe him. She did believe he would say anything to make her feel better though, which she also believed was out of character for him. "War don't make people pretty, sweetheat. But it does make people hurt." he said gently. She couldn't help but frown at him, had he really just called her sweetheart?

"I will go get a nurse. Stay here." he said as he left he alone, crying silently. "Not like I can go anywhere." she mocked to herself.


	6. Chapter 4: Save Me

**Reposting again, pretty much the same, just stuff added to it. Let me know what you think. Thanks.**

**Reposting this. Found some mistakes that I am corrtecting. Thanks again to FullMetalScyth for the awesome reviews.**

Authors Note: Let me know what you think. Plus let me know if you see any mistakes. Thanks for reading, and please Review. Thanks FullMetalScyth for reviewing.

She glared at him. He was asleep, and snoring, rather loudly. So she glared. She wanted to wake him up, to stop the annoying noise, but he had been nice to her earlier, helping her up, and even getting the nurse for her. She figured being nice was out of his character because the rest of the night he had sneered at her. But at least he had helped. So she let him continue to make that monstrous noise, that kept her awake when she should be resting.

It was awkward laying there, glaring at him, but she couldn't look away. He was rough looking, but oddly attractive to her. He had a few facial scars, but it added character to his sleeping face. The only thing she didn't like was his patch of blond hair under his bottom lip, she figured he thought it made him look good, but she thought otherwise. She let her eyes trace his face so she could remember it. It was something she used to always do, commit faces to memory. She never forgets a face, she made sure of that. Plus one day she was determined to repay him for the bruise on the side of her face, and she had to remember what he looked like.

"Can you stop staring at me?" he asked, not bothering to open his eyes, but in a more than annoyed voice. "No, you quit snoring, and I will quit staring." she mumbled as she still glared at him. She hadn't noticed that for the past three or four minutes he hadn't been snoring. She had been too busy glaring to notice that he had woken up. He grunted loudly and finally opened his eyes to look at her. She gulped loudly as her black eyes met his light blue green eyes. His eyes held is annoyance at her. But she didn't care, annoyance made his eyes all the more appealing.

"You know it is rather hard to sleep when you keep staring at me like that." he said, as he continued to hold her gaze. She took notice that his voice had grown softer when he said that, but his eyes stayed hard. "Well, it is even harder to sleep when you won't shut the hell up." she whispered, starting to feel small in his gaze. But she didn't let it show. He sighed rather loudly, exasperated with her.

Baird raised an eyebrow when she continued to just stare at him. "What?" he asked, confused that she wouldn't look away. "I have to use the restroom again." she whispered, embarrassed that she was about to ask him for help. But she didn't have to, he got up with an angry groan and came to assist her. She envied him. He was in the hospital, but didn't have to wear the ugly embarrassing gown, and didn't have an IV hooked to his arm. "Come on, swing your legs over the side." he said.

He removed her blanket, and watched as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. He put a hand on her elbow and pulled her to her unsteady feet. "This is so embarrassing ." she mumbled as he escorted her gently to the bathroom. "Damned right it is. I am not a fucking nurse." he spat at her. She looked up at him, surprised to find him smiling at his own joke. Again he was trying to make her not feel so awkward. He then opened the door for her and helped her to a hand rail next to the toilet. "Call me when you're done." he said as he left her to do her business.

"Damon." she called a few moments later after she was done with her business. He came in looking shocked. "What?" she asked confused as he grabbed her elbow gently. "I'm just not used to anyone calling me by my first name anymore." he explained. She nodded in acknowledgement, understanding that military life sometimes made people forget that they had a first name. He escorted her back her bed and tucked her back in. "Now go to sleep and don't stare at me." he said. "Well then quit snoring." she whispered. He huffed as he laid back down in his bed. "Um, Baird, thank you." she whispered as she looked over at him. He was on his side, turned away from her. He shrugged is shoulders and then pretended to be asleep. He didn't want to get too friendly with this woman. Even though he was having a harder and harder time trying to be mean to her. It was like nice just came out in him while he was around her.

He wasn't sure he like the feeling that she had the power to make him feel nice to her. But he decided that it was because of the state she was in. He decided it was not being nice, it was him pitying her.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Two days later she was alone, again. Baird had been released a day ago when there was no sign of infection developing, the lucky bastard. She stared blankly at the nasty ceiling as she listened to the battle rage outside her window. While Baird had been in here with her, she hadn't even noticed the war out there. She missed him already, well not really him, but the company of human contact. Well, okay maybe him. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she rather like his brash personality. He made her laugh, well not really laugh, just want to laugh. But laughing wasn't an option, her stitches wouldn't allow it.

She played with a hangnail as she thought, trying to block out the screams throught the barrior of her window.

It was chilling to know that she laid in bed and could hear screams and feel the rumble of the ground, and couldn't do damned thing about it. A frag grenade exploded a click away, or what she presumed was a click away from the sound it had made. Even though it was that far away, dust and a ceiling tile fell to the ground of her small hospital room. She looked to the window and thought that the battle was getting closer to the safe zone, or what the COG now called Base. They were going to have to move sooner then they all thought they were going to have to do. Another frag went off, but closer then the first one.

She sat up in bed and looked out of the dirt filmed window again. That last frag was actually a lot closer then she had thought. She could see the smoke from her window.

Sirens began to go off louder then normal at that moment. Then a blast went off and the wall that stood between her and the outside world, fell into rubble. The blast also knocked her bed over on its side, making her fall out of it. She shrieked loudly in pain. She looked at her stitches quickly to make sure they were still in tact, which they were.

She sat up and crawled under the bed that Baird had laid on when he was in the hospital with her. She hid herself there because she heard grubs running around where her wall had once stood. She trembled in fear as her fingers took the IV out of her hand. The IV had been twisted at an odd angle, making her hand go numb. Fear gripped her again when she saw a Locust run past her. If she would have been dressed in her armor, with a bayonet to protect her, she would feel fine. But she didn't even have a knife to protect herself with, so she was afraid.

She had already shook death's hand, she didn't feel like walking hand in hand with it. She closed her eyes, and tried to blend with the shadows of the bed.

Xxxxxxxxx

It had been two days since the Locust had over taken the base, and Delta squad was ready to depart to a new safe zone. They knew when they lost ground and this ground they had definitely lost. "Dom, you drive the APC. Cole, you lay down cover fire with me. Baird, navigate." barked Marcus as he crawled on top of the APC. Everyone nodded.

Baird turned to look at Hoffman who was helping Anya into a Raven Gunship. He then scanned the area. There were three cargo trucks filled with patients from the hospital. Curiosity got the better of him and he did a quick scan of the cargo trucks to look for the new Delta member only to find her missing. "Hoffman." he called over the COMM. "This better be good Baird." replied Hoffman on the COMM. "Just wondering where your niece is." Baird responded in a rude voice as he turned to look at the older man who was standing next to the ready to depart Raven.

Baird watched as realization hit Hoffman like a bag of bricks. He looked stunned and more then angry with himself. Both Hoffman and Baird turned to look at the almost demolished Hospital a click away. Without a second thought Baird checked to see if his Lancer was secured on his back before he took off sprinting in the direction of the Hospital. "Boy, I can get my niece." said Hoffman into the COMM. Baird huffed as he was gaining on the Hospital's entrance.

"But I am quicker than you old man." was all Baird said as he entered the Hospital, skidding to a hault to listen.

It was dark inside, and already smelled like stinking Locust grubs. But it was silent so he took that as a sign as there were no grubs inside. He ran all the way to her room, encountering only a rat on the way. He entered the room quietly so not to draw any grubs his way.

"Ezra?" he whispered harshly.

Then he saw her. She laid face down with her head turned to the side, staring at the door lifelessly. His heart sank. He had never looked at a more pitiful dead body. He walked over and bent down to close her eyes. She grabbed his ankle in a whimper. He had to bite his lip to keep from screaming as he fell back onto his ass. He looked horrified at her tear stained face, she looked like a crazed zombie as she glared up at him. "If you lay here and look dead, the grubs don't know the difference." she said as she tried to roll over onto her back.

"You scared the shit out of me." he whispered. "That's what that smell is." she said with a half smile. He grumbled as he got back up. "So I guess you came to save me?" she asked, actually in a nervous voice. "Yes." he grunted as he bent down and helped her stand up. "Baird?"

"Yes." he said as he looked into her eyes.

"I can't walk. I already tried, but I fell on my belly and couldn't get back up. My leg isn't responding like it should today, or maybe it just hurts to fucking much." she explained, biting her lip nervously after she was done talking. It made her nervous to be like this, helpless. He grumbled to himself about how she was a big burden. But in the end he picked her up. One arm under the crook of her knees and the other under her shoulders. He took care not to bother her stitches as he did so. She wrapped her trembling arms around his neck so she could hold onto him. "Thank you for coming." she whispered. "Welcome." was all he said as he started to leave the Hospital.

Once they entered the hallway again he was greeted with a great problem. There stood a squad of grubs. He gently placed her behind some cover as the first grub noticed him there. It spoke in a language he didn't understand and they all turned and started to fire.

Baird pulled out his Lancer and started to fire. He got lucky, his first shot buried itself into a skull, dropping the grub instantly. "Gun." she called, trying to get him to pass her his Boltok Pistol, but he ignored her. She grabbed his pants and pulled herself up crotch level with him. He glanced down at her with a wicked smile on his face, making him look devilishly attractive. She frowned for thinking such things about him. This was war, she couldn't stop and smell the roses with this man, she needed to get a grip. "I could get used to that." he joked before turning and firing again, dropping the second grub, leaving six more.

"Bet you could." she joked back, but in a serious tone that suggested that she didn't like the joke. She pulled out the Boltok Pistol from the holster at his hip roughly. She crawled into a position so she could help, and stay safe from oncoming fire. She took aim and shot a grub, making its head explode on contact with the bullet. She had forgotten these guns where like the Longshot rifles, very powerful. A smile spread across her face, she felt that satisfaction of dropping her first grub in over a week.

He dropped four more grubs, and she wounded the rest. He hurried over to finish them off before coming back to pick her up. "We make a good team." she said, happy that she got to use a gun again, and feeling important. He laughed and put the pistol back in the holster. "Right." he joked as he made sure that she was secure in his arms.

Walking back outside he was greeted with the rest of the Delta squad who where about to come in for back up. "Here." said Baird as he passed Ezra into Marcus' arms. She looked at him confused but then she noticed he favored his left side. "You have been shot." she said as she pointed to his side. He looked back at her, angry that she said that aloud. "Leave it to you, to get shot baby." laughed Cole. "First you let a wretch get you, now this?" joked Dom. Baird rolled his eyes, he hated when he got hurt, no one was going to let him live this down.

He glared at Ezra, until his face softened, again whatever power she had over him made him want to be nice. She looked apologetic, and it made his anger dissipate. He was beginning to think that this power might turn out to be a good friendship. While he was in the hospital with her, he felt like he could cut loose, and relax. He felt like more of himself in her presence. It made him feel hopeful, and indifferent at the sametime.


	7. Chapter 5: Ravens Are Evil

**Authors Note: Okay so I am reposting this because my friend let me know there were many mistakes in it. I reread it and was like I thought I fixed all of them. Turns out my comp it gay and didn't save the stuff I fixed. So I let my friend become my editor and now it is fixed lol. Sorry it has been a few days, but here it is. Please Review.**

Now that she was in the arms of another, she felt awkward. She had forgotten that she was still only wearing that dreaded hospital gown, and she was naked beneath it. She looked up into Marcus Fenix's dark blue eyes. He glanced down at her and attempted to smile. Guess he feels weird too, she thought. Hoffman came running up to scope out the damage. He smiled when he found out that Ezra was more then okay, well as okay as she could be at a time like this.

She tried to reposition herself against Marcus, she could feel his armor through the thin material of the gown. "Baird has been hit." she stated to her uncle when he seemed to not even care about the man who saved her life. "Hurt again, Baird?" he teased the younger man who only a few minutes before called him an old man. Her face fell into disappointment at her uncle. She realized these men had deep issues, but was it too hard to say 'how are you' or forbid the heavens 'thank you'. It wasn't like Baird had just risked his life to save her. He saved someone who should still be laying in the hospital floor, pretending to be dead.

Hoffman sighed as he looked at Ezra's face. "You two will ride in the Raven with Anya, and a doctor so we can get you sewn up, if you need it that is. Fenix, I will navigate for you." said Hoffman as he motioned everyone to get a move on.

Xxxxxxxxx

Ravens always made her sick. Flying in general made her sick. The doctor fixed the pillows that they had brought on to make her and Baird more than comfortable. It had been twenty minutes since they had patched Baird's wound. It had been just a shot gun graze, which was still bad enough to make a man hurt. Now he sat back against his propped up pillows without any worries in the world.

She looked up at him sickly from where she was propped up on her pillows. He turned to look at her with a wide smile. Her brows furrowed together. Was he happy? Flying shoudn't make anyone that happy. "I like flying in Ravens." he explained as he looked back out of the cockpits' opened bay. He looked down at the APC that the Delta squad was on, happy to have a break of his squad members. It was the best thing in the world right now to be away from them. Cole he missed, but not Dom or Marcus. Well, Dom was a good guy. He guessed the only one he didn't really give a shit about was Marcus. **(BTW I love Marcus, just getting into Baird's character.)**

But now his company was a bit dull, truth be told. He turned to look at Ezra. He wondered what kind of person she was when she wasn't battered to hell and back. "You look green." he commented on her appearance when she wouldn't stop staring back at him. He was starting to like the way she openly stared at him, without caring what he thought about it. " While flying makes you happier then a fucking peach, flying makes me sicker then a person with rustlung." she said through clenched teeth. She was afraid if she opened her mouth too much she might spew her guts all over the cockpit.

"Close your eyes and think of something pleasant." he suggested as he looked back out of the cockpit's bay. She sighed and tried it, but nothing pleasant came to mind. Just things that horrified her every time she closed her eyes in the first place. She grunted and her eyes flew open quickly. "Doesn't work." she whispered as she stared at her hands that were folded in her lap. "Didn't say it worked for everyone." he grumbled.

She sighed and looked at Anya, who was busy looking at a navigation chart on the Raven's computer. "So she is it? The woman who had captured Marcus's heart?" she asked, trying to concentrate on anything other than her queasiness.

Baird looked at her more then stunned. "How did you know that?" he asked.

"Doesn't everyone?" she asked in return still letting her black eyes wonder over Anya. She was the prettiest of the Strouds, nothing like her hard ass mother, Major Helena Stroud.

"Well obviously not because she is engaged to Prescott." he whispered as he scooted closer to her so he could gossip. He then felt odd. He had just scooted closer to a woman so he could gossip, it didn't get more awkward then that. What was he a woman? But then again deep down, he loved talking about Marcus's screwed up life. It made him forget that he had his own screwed up life to worry about.

He hadn't noticed that he had scooted close enough for her to smell his cologne. He smelled like sandalwood. "Are you wearing cologne?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but just wanting him to admit it. "Not cologne, the soap I wash with smells like this." he said. She sighed, upset that she had been wrong. But no matter, she enjoyed the smell. She enjoyed it very much. She could also feel some of his body heat. Usually she would think this too close for comfort. But she was beginning to get used to him being around, so it didn't bother her so much.

"So she is engaged?" she whispered.

"Yes. But she is calling it off to be with Marcus." he whispered back into her ear when he turned his head so he could make sure no one heard them.

She shivered when his warm breath embraced her cheek when he spoke. She nodded and stared at Anya. "How do you get engaged when there is this much catastrophe around you?" she asked in a whisper, more to herself then to anyone else. "It is easy, you just ask someone to marry you." he said. "I know that, I mean like…. Never mind." she grumbled.

"Oh come on. It is easy in the time of war to get engaged. All you have to do is ask 'Will you marry me?'." he said as he rolled his eyes at her. "Yes Damon, I will marry you." she giggled.

He looked at her confused, he knew that he pain medicine was kicking in now for her, but was she really this loopy?. "What?" he asked.

"You asked me to marry you and I said yes. Plus earlier you said you could get used to me being around you." she giggled happily. "Oh I see, doc gave you a lot of pain medicine. And I never said that, I said I could get used to you being crotch level with me." he said to reassure himself. She giggled a little and shut her eyes, feeling more than happy, for no reason, well from the drugs. It wasn't long until she had fallen asleep.

He shook his head and turned back to look out of the bay again. Just as he looked out, he spotted four Khimera's pass by. When he joined the GEARS that was what he had always wanted to be, a Khimera pilot. They weren't a COG fighter helicopter, but he knew when he had signed up that they were trying to have them contracted into the COG to use against the Ostri Republic, as well as the Union of Independent Republics.

Now they were used by everyone, seeing how everyone was coming together to fight against the Locust Horde. But Baird hadn't been assigned into anything dealing with Helicopters, he was a tech head, or that was what other GEARS called him. Well they also called him their living breathing Locust expert, and they chose Marcus above him to lead the Delta Squad. He scoffed loudly, making Ezra mumble angrily in her drug induced sleep.

But he was really intelligent when it came to those ugly grubs. He couldn't understand their spoken language, but he had deciphered it once it was written down, and if that didn't prove he was more capable than Marcus then nothing ever would prove it. But that wasn't the only thing he was very capable of. Bomb making was another of his other many fortes. It was as easy for him to build a bomb as it was for him to shake a man's hand. Well sometimes it was hard to shake a man's hand. He wasn't too keen on touching others. Had a thing against it as he never understood the need to touch people.

"Baird, Hoffman wants you on the COMM now." said Anya, motioning him to turn it back on. "Sir?" he asked once he found the radio frequency that he was supposed to be on. "Boy, what you did back there was a good show of courage. I am promoting you to Corporal again, son. Hoffman out."

Baird sneered at no one particular. Like it would last. He had been promoted and demoted so many times that he was beginning to forget what his rank was. He should be an officer again, but his attitude problem always got him pushed down. He knew his attitude was the reason that Marcus Fenix was the name of Delta squad instead of his, Damon Baird. He grumbled angrily to himself because of his thoughts. His grumbling was disturbing her slumber so she grumbled back at him. He stopped to look at her. She looked as angry as he felt. He laughed at her then. He was beginning to like her. Which might end up being dangerous for him to do, but he couldn't stop himself from liking her. She was contagious. Like a spreading disease that was soon going to take over his life. For heaven's sake, he had risked his life already for her, she might as well take over his life.

He reached out and moved a few free stray strands of dirty chestnut hair out of her face. He wondered what her hair would look like if it were actually clean, because now it was dull and very dirty. He then realized he had seen her before, when her hair was glorious. It usually was a vibrant chestnut that captured the light and made you want to stare at it. In truth the more he sat there staring at her, fingering the strands of her dirty hair, the more he wanted to know about this woman.

Finally he dropped her hair, and gently stroked her cheek with his index finger. What would she feel like clean? He wondered as he smudged more dirt around on her face. What he would give to see her cleaned up. And what he would give for a decent bath himself for that matter.

"Shit." was the only warning that brought Baird out of his deep thoughts about Ezra, and his hopefully sooner than later bath. He looked up just in time to spot the Nemacyst that was hurtling towards them. "Fuck." he whispered as he instinctly turned to cover Ezra's body with his own. Again he was trying to save this woman's life. All he heard was the explosion to the rotter and the feeling of the Raven falling to the ground before he blacked out.

xxxxxxxx

When she woke, she was in the most pain she had been in since she had been shot. Not only was she in severe pain, she was having a difficult time breathing. It felt like something heavy was on her chest. She finally opened her eyes and focus her sight to find Baird passed out on top of her. But he was the least of her worries. She smelled smoke and imulsion, which was not a good sign. She looked around, and realization finally hit her. They had been hit, and crashed the Raven. And people used to tell her that she was dumb for hating to fly. This was the exact reason that she would keep her ass on the ground from now on. She didn't give a shit if she had to walk for a year to get where she was going, she would just have to tough it out, as long as she never flew again.

She tried to crawl out from beneath Baird, only proving to herself that he was heavier then he looked, and it hurt like hell because it pulled at her stitches. She had freed herself a little bit when Anya came to. Ezra turned to watch Anya throw the computer monitor that had fallen on top of her to the ground. Their eyes met. "What's your status?" asked Ezra as she still kept trying to crawl from beneath Baird. "I think just a broken finger, other then that fine." said Anya as she collected herself.

It took a moment for Anya to realize what she was smelling. When realization passed over her face she looked at Ezra horrified. "Yeah we have to hurry, otherwise we are about to be barbecue." explained Ezra. Anya nodded and stood and checked the two pilots. Both dead from the impact. She removed their tags and turned back to help Ezra free herself. It took both of them to roll Baird over, seeing how he was a heavy man, COG armor always made a man almost twice as heavy as they should be. "Anya, try to open that bay, and I will try to wake him up." ordered Ezra as she started to pat the side of Baird's face.

Anya immediately set out to her task, only turning to look at Ezra and Baird when Ezra gave a frustrated sigh. She turned back to the closed bay and started to pull it open. With a groan it opened and she turned just in time to see Ezra slap Baird hard across his face. He woke with a start, grabbing Ezra by the throat. Her face immediately turned a dark crimson, and her eyes began to bulge slightly from the pressure. All of the precious air escaped her lungs and she whimper because of it. It took him a moment to realize that Ezra was human, and not a threat before he let her go and apologizing for almost choking her to death.

As soon as his hand left her throat, she fell over and gasped for air. "Sorry." he said again as he stood up and watched her struggle to breathe. He bent down to comfort her while he kept apologizing. She nodded that she knew he was sorry, and that she forgave him. Everyone had those moments and she couldn't blame him. But now she couldn't speak. He had crushed her windpipe so much that she couldn't even breathe enough to help form words. She wasn't damaged from it forever, but just at this moment she was.

"We have to get the hell out of here. The smell is getting worse." demanded Anya as she looked over Baird's shoulder. Both nodded. Anya was the first to crawl out, but she waited close by to help with Ezra, who still couldn't walk because she had damaged her leg when she had been shot. Baird scooped her up quickly, and not at all gently. She squealed in protest as her stitches on her shoulder pulled. He grunted to make her hush. Her fingers dug into his flesh, so she could try to concentrate on giving him pain as he had given her. He shook his head at her, and ignored the fact that he was now bleeding from where she had been digging her nails into him.

He pushed her up and Anya helped pull her out of the cockpit. Baird soon followed them. Once out of the cockpit, he picked her up again and followed Anya, who led them to some cover. Anya was the first to duck down and Baird just threw himself into the cover and cradled Ezra against himself to protect her. He felt like it was his job now to do nothing but protect her. And it wasn't because he was attracted to her, it was because he had almost just killed her.

She was not beginning to think that she was doomed the rest of her life to feel nothing but pain, like she felt now. But now that she was calming down from the pain, she turned to look at his neck. She moved his shirt back slightly so she could see where she had wounded him. It was in the fleshy part of his shoulder that she had grabbed hold of. It was bleeding slightly and was an angry red. "Sorry." she finally whispered, after building up enough air in her lungs to wheeze an apology out. "It is fine." he said, as he tried not to look at her. He was enjoying the feel of her in his lap too much to look at her. This was beginning to become dangerous for him. _Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe it's not because I am attracted to her. It has to be that it is war and I haven't been with a woman in a while. _He thought as he looked to Anya, who was trying to get the COMM to work resulting with failure. But he knew he didn't feel the same way toward Anya, who was more attractive than Ezra was. No, he just was beginning to like this woman more than he should.

It was a couple more minutes until the imulsion had heated up enough to explode, making them all still and forget what they were thinking. It sounded like nothing they had ever witnessed. Metal flew around them, but the cover Anya had chosen was the only thing that saved their lives.


	8. Chapter 6: Aftermath

Everything was settling down; the noise of the blazing fire, the metal that had flown about when the Raven exploded, and the dust that swirled through the air. Ezra disengaged herself enough from Baird's arms to look from behind the cover to see the damage. She tried to whistle, but instead made a low gurgling noise, that Baird found funny. He laughed at her and she turned to glare daggers at him.

She for one didn't think it funny at all that she couldn't whistle, and she would expect that he wouldn't find it funny either. But he had, and oddly enough it hurt her feelings. It shouldn't hurt her feelings as much as it did, but she couldn't hide the unshed tears that popped into her eyes. She started to become angry with herself. She shouldn't want to cry because he had hurt her and then laughed about it. But then again, it was out of line for him to remotely see the humor in her gurgling noise.

"Piece of shit!" screamed Anya as she threw her broken COMM radio into a stone column four feet away. It broke in half on contact, making her instantly feel victorious. "Baird, try to radio Hoffman in." she said as she stood up and dusted herself of. With the help of Anya, they moved Ezra off of his lap and into a comfortable position. She glared at them both in envy. She wished she had clothing, not the now tattered hospital gown that only covered the areas that she didn't want to share with world. Just barely.

"Hoffman, come in, this is Baird." he said into his COMM. His response was static. He sighed and switched it to another channel. "Hoffman, come in, this is Baird." he said on the new channel. Again his answer was static. This went on until he had tried all of the channels, but now with response. "Well at least yours work. Seeders must be jamming the radios." she said as she sat down again but this time next to Ezra. Baird nodded and looked around to scope the area. "Now what?" he asked, still looking around. "Well judging from where we crashed, we are two clicks off course. But my bet is Delta saw us go down. Problem is they can't bring those APC's this way. They are too big, and this ground is too unstable. So we can either wait until they come here on foot, which might take several hours by my estimations. Or we can trek our way to them. I can go for either on, but the problem would be Ezra. She is bleeding on her shoulder, which will stop soon because it isn't so bad but if we were to wait here we decrease the time it takes for infection to get in there. If we move, we might get tired quicker. Well you will get tired, seeing how you will have to carry her." said Anya as she looked at Baird.

He sighed. Ezra stared angrily at Anya. Was she that big of a burden to these people? She looked over to Baird, her black eyes full of the fire she felt inside. She was infuriated. She didn't ask to be put into their damned company in the first place, and if she was such a big burden they could just leave her ass. He mind turned over and over with many angered thoughts. Baird made eye contact with her, which might not have been a safe thing to do. He felt his skin turn chilly under her gaze. His eyes softened towards her, hoping that she would take the silent message. But she didn't, she continued to stare at him with a firm frown on her face, and anger in her eyes. Anya looked away from the two, starting to feel awkward in their company. She felt like she was with two people who had just been in a fight, who were the best of friends, and she was just a new person they had met. That was always the most awkward feeling.

Ezra turned her eyes away from Baird's to look back at Anya. She had her head turned looking back at Baird, so she could still direct her anger at someone. It felt awful to know that she felt like she was now a burden because she truthfully was. "Anya, how about you go ahead and hurry and bring them to help. I have some meds in my side pack, so I can try to hold off infection. If you go and bring their help, it might be quicker because you know where we are." he said. It wasn't a good idea though. One, it didn't make Ezra feel any less of a burden. Two, Anya wouldn't be safe walking around out there without a GEAR to assist her. Anya looked to Baird, knowing that it was a bad plan.

"Or you can doctor me, and we can get the hell out of here." wheezed Ezra. Tears spilled down her face as she spoke. The pain in her throat was terrible. She turned her hate filled gaze at Baird. She had forgiven him, but the pain was too much for her not to still make him feel guilty. He frowned at her, feeling the guilt that she was putting on him on purpose. It wasn't like he didn't deserve it, but he wished she didn't have the power over him to make him this much of an emotional roller coaster. He hadn't know this woman for long, and she wasn't the most attractive woman he had ever seen (even though she was attractive), but he felt something for her. Whether that feeling was just friendship or more was beyond him.

"Baird, let me see your Boltok pistol, I am going to go scope a trail. You hurry and doctor her." said Anya. She couldn't take the awkwardness anymore. She didn't know what was going on between Baird and Morg, but she was sure of one thing, Baird was acting much different around this woman. Anya wasn't used to this new behavior and she wasn't sure that she should be witnessing it. It was one of those things that she was sure if she mentioned it to anyone, he would yell that she wasn't supposed to see him acting like a love sick puppy. And Morg she had known for a few years. She was acting different too. At first, Anya had thought maybe it was just the pain she was in, but this woman was acting like she liked that Baird doted on her. And that was something Ezra never liked. She was always an independent woman, who could fight her own battles. Now she seemed like she didn't mind having Baird help her with everything. She had even heard a nurse say that she had asked for Baird's help when they where in the hospital. And that was out of Ezra's character. Her independence was why she actually got out there and fought, and didn't have a job like Anya did. Sometimes Anya envied that, but only sometimes.

He unholstered his pistol and handed it to Anya. She thanked him before making her escape from the two of them. He gulped loudly as he looked to Ezra. She was still crying after Anya had left. He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs, after resting his hands on both sides of her face. She closed her eyes, causing more tears to fall, but she had to hide her fear from him. She was realizing that even in war, people found love. She didn't love Baird, but it was becoming harder not to really like him, when he was being so tender as to wipe her tears away. She might not have known him long but there was definitely a connection between each other, and it scared her more then a rogue boomer.

When she opened her eyes again, they were softer, and red from crying. He sighed as he leaned forward and pulled her into a hug. He didn't know what else to do to comfort her. She sobbed and buried her head into his chest. She had never done this before, and she didn't know how much she really needed to be comforted until she was being held by him. He rocked her back and forth, whispering how sorry her was, and how everything would be okay. This was the deepest emotional thing she had ever done with anyone. She had never been held like this, and never cried like this. She had never admitted before that she was in pain and was scared. She knew that he knew that she was scared, so that was something that she didn't have to admit out loud.

He pushed her back enough so he could see her face. He smiled sweetly down at her, unsure what else to do. He knew after this was all said and done, this would never be spoken about. But he knew that he would always remember this moment for the rest of his life. It was the moment that he realized that even though she was a tough ass woman, she had chosen to show him her softer side. He didn't care if he hadn't known her for long, this was a deep connection they had, even if there was a fight for humanity going on. He also realized that this woman might very well become his best friend. He considered Cole his best friend, but there would be a big difference for what he felt for her than what he felt for Cole. With Cole he joked, with her he could share anything with her, even his deepest darkest secrets.

"I'm scared," he started, "I am scared that this war will never end. I am scared that I will die in it. I am scared if I do survive it, I will survive it alone. I am afraid to feel that pain that you feel now. I am..."

Her sad smile made him forget what he was trying to say. He knew that everyone shared the same fears. "I am afraid I am just a burden, who should have died a week and two days ago." she wheezed painfully, making more tears spill down her face. It was funny how she only had two clean streaks on her dirty face. He liked this warrior has been crying look on her face. It made this war almost seem innocent in her face. "You're not a burden, Ezra." he said. She nodded and smiled at him.

He couldn't help himself anymore. He slowly dipped his head down, wanting to taste her lips with his own. He wanted to soothe her fears and his own, with a kiss. He wanted Sera to melt away into the background and there only to be her and him. But before he could kiss her Anya returned. Making the somewhat romantic moment more than awkward. Both were caught inches apart, breathing a little heavier, and lips slightly parted in wanting. It took a moment for his head to clear, and for him to back away from her.

He didn't act like this, he wasn't the comforting sensitive boyfriend. But for Ezra, at that moment he had been. She too looked like she was regretting their actions, as much as he did. Romance wasn't what people found in war, it was hardships and heartbreak. He couldn't allow himself to be a Marcus Fenix, and he was sure Ezra wasn't out looking to be an Anya Stroud. But really would it be so bad to know that when times got rough there would be someone to fall back on to comfort you? It was. If he happened to fall in love with Ezra he would only get his heart broken again. He knew if he let down his guard again he would want to be with her, and that would mean he would fall in love with her, and then he would loose her. Like he had lost Gloria. He almost choked when that name popped into his mind. He quickly blocked it in his dark memories as he looked into Ezra's black eyes. Her eyes resembled voids, he realized. "Hurry and patch her up, I found a trail to the east that will take you up to Delta." she said as she sat back down. "You know Anya, one night away from Marcus won't kill your ass." he joked.

She rolled her eyes at him. She hated that everyone knew that she loved Marcus, and teased her about it. She glanced over to Ezra who couldn't sit still. She kept fidgeting under Anya's gaze. "You just want alone time with your girl, Baird." she teased back. But Ezra didn't find it funny. She picked up the nearest thing next to her, which was decent sized rock the size of a woman's fist, and threw it at her. It missed of course but still scared Anya into saying sorry.

Ezra was no one's girl and she made sure that everyone knew that.

But none of that was important now. What was important was that she needed to be patched up. Baird untied her hospital gown after he moved to sit behind her. He gave a low whistle at the sight of her bleeding. Her shoulder already looked like it was infected. He took out his medical pack and began to clean the wound. She gave a sharp intake of breath when he touched an alchohol pad to her wound. It stung and the more he wiped at her wound, the more she wanted to cry.

Once finished with that he put some salve to it and dressed the wound.

"Well looks like we need to get going." Anya said as she watched Baird start to retie her gown.

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"I hate not having my computer." muttered Anya as she secured herself in the cover she had found to stay away from the line of fire. They had been pushing hard for no longer than an hour before they happened over a Locust squad, with a boomer in tow. The only thing she was armed with was the Boltok pistol that she had borrowed from Baird earlier. Everyone thought that she was only a desk job in the COG, but she was a hell of a shot with a Boltok pistol in hand. She peaked around the corner and aimed at the boomer.

Baird and Ezra took on the grubs, and she was to kill the boomer with the pistol since it had the power to do so without wasting too many bullets. After taking a moment to aim, trying to ignore the chaos around her, she fired. The first bullet embedded itself into its neck. The boomer shook its massive head like it just was bitten by a fly. She re-hid herself when the boomer looked around for where the shot had come from. She hid a few minutes, to allow time for the boomer to forget her, and for the wound on its neck to really bleed.

She looked around the cover again, took aim, breathed, and then shot. The second bullet landed itself in the side of the boomer's face. It grunted stupidly and turned back to her and fired its Boomshot. She hid just in time to avoid the rocket that was flying at her. It was another few minutes until she repeated the routine. The last bullet plunged into the boomer's temple, killing it instantly. It fell to the ground with a loud thud, as soon as Baird dropped the last grub.

Anya's chest swelled with pride. That had been the first boomer she had ever killed. "Feels nice, don't it?" asked Baird as he looked up at Anya from his post on the ground next to Ezra.

Anya nodded and tried to hide the fact that she was shaking with excitement from her first kill, as well as a little fear. She had killed grubs, and a few wretches, but never a boomer. It was something she couldn't wait to tell Marcus. In fact she couldn't wait to see him again. Their relationship was odd, but she wanted to see him as soon as she could so she could gloat that she, Anya Stroud, had killed a boomer. A huge grin lit her features, and Ezra chuckled at her. "You might make GEAR some day if you keep that up." Ezra wheezed, poking fun at Anya, but then regretted speaking because of her throat. Anya made a face at the other woman, making Ezra and Baird both chuckle at her.

"I swear one day, when you really are relying on my imformation, I am going to get you two back. One minute you're safe, and the next I will have your asses walking straight into a grub hole. Just remember that." she said with a smile. She was starting to feel more comfortable around the two of them, since it had been an hour since she almost caught them kissing. She wondered if she hadn't interrupted them would they actually had gone through with it. She cursed herself for interrupting. But then again she still had gossip on them. All she would have to say is 'I caught them about to kiss' and she would have them being gossiped about as much as her and Marcus. But she wasn't that kind of person so she forgot the notion to want to tell everyone.

But she would tell Marcus, and would it really be her fault if he told anyone else? No, problem solved. She would tell Marcus and he would then tell everyone else. She then scowled, one flaw in her plan: Marcus barely spoke to anyone outside of Delta squad.


	9. Chapter 7: Fondness

**Author's Note: Sorry this took a long time. Please review. And sorry this one is short**

It took the three of them two hours to find their way half way back to where they where before Delta squad intercepted them.

"What are you doing Baird? Giving out free piggy back rides?" asked Cole once he saw his friend with SSgt Morg on his back. It was a funny sight though; it would have made a picture perfect moment with two lovers, but they weren't lovers so it was just funny. She clung to his back with her arms wrapped around his neck, and her legs were being supported by his arms. She blushed and slid off him quickly so she could adjust the gown. When they were walking and it was just Baird, Anya, and herself, she had not minded that half of her butt was hanging out through the slit in the gown. Now though, she was so embarrassed that she wished she had died when the helicopter went down.

"Yeah, you want one asshole?" spat Baird tiredly. He had been carrying her for two hours and he was more than tired. She wasn't heavy, but you could only carry someone so long before you wanted to drop to the ground and scream in agony. A silent thanks escaped his lips because he had been so close to doing just that; falling the ground and screaming. Ezra looked at him, and he looked away. He didn't know how to act around her now. One, he was attracted to her and almost acting on that. Two, he was angry that he had to carry her so long. It wasn't her fault that she was in the condition she was in but he couldn't help but think that it was somehow her fault. Ezra was becoming a big burden on him, even though he had told her that she wasn't a burden, in reality, she was.

She was a huge burden to him for several different reasons. But the main reason was because of her current condition.

Ezra opened her mouth to say something to him but then shut it. She knew what they had shared two or three hours ago would not be mentioned, but she wanted that moment again. Lost is how she felt now, wobbling on her uneasy legs with the Delta squad around her, ignoring her. She wanted to be back there in the rubble where Baird had comforted her. _Get a grip Ezra_. This was reality; war. There was no time for tears, love, or anything other than fighting for your life. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had let herself go back there and she needed to find herself quickly before she became too lost. She opened her eyes and looked at Baird; who was sharing a private joke with Cole. Her chest constricted and her face twisted angrily.

It was not love she was feeling, that she knew. It was something along the lines of a crush or even infatuation with the idea that there could be love there. It was a cruel joke though to think those things. War and love did not mix well. She knew that, but she felt herself wanting to ignore that.

Finally he turned back to look at her. His face stern, and his blue eyes cold. "Let me help you." he said as he went to pick her up.

"You are tired. I am sure Dom can help me." she said as she looked to Dom.

Dom gave her a knowing smile, and that unnerved her. She would have been better off just letting Baird help her, but she didn't want to feel his touch, his comfort. She needed to take a breather from Baird so she could get her mind back in check. But that knowing smile that Dom wore scared her. She wouldn't get a breather, she realized. She would get cold reality that would hurt worse then her forming scars. "Shit." she muttered as Dom came to stand next to her.

"Have it your way." said Baird and he looked at Dom crossly. She glanced at Baird as he turned away from her and strode in the other direction.

"It won't kill you." whispered Dom as he picked her up bridal style, careful of her stitches and tattered gown.

"I don't know what your talking about." she whispered back at him as she kept her eyes to Baird's back.

"You are fond of him." he said as he started to walk behind the rest of Delta squad, but out of earshot. She turned her head to look at Dom's dark brown eyes. His eyes held so many emotions that it scared her. There was pain, love, hate, and a lot of other wild emotions clashing behind his gaze. This was a man who never gave up on the love for his wife, searched her out in these times of war, only to have to put a bullet in her head to save her. This man had to put his wife out of her misery, because in reality she no longer lived.

Tears came to her black eyes. "I am fond of him." she admitted finally. Once she did it felt like a dead weight was lifted from her body.

He watched as her eyes eased gently. "See, told you it wouldn't kill you." he said with a sad smile.

She smiled back and stated, "Okay, you were right, it hasn't killed me."

"And it won't. There is no reason to fear fondness or even, one day, love." he said.

She looked away from Dom to Baird's back again. She was fond of that man, and according to Dom it wouldn't kill her to be fond of or even one day love him. She made a face at the thought of love. She had only been in love once and that was before this war. But that love at torn her in two, and in all honesty she was afraid it would do it again. Tears slowly spilled down her face as dark memories surfaced. But she didn't bury them. She just let them play their course in her mind.

After reliving those dark memories she felt herself become cold again. She was SSgt Ezra Morg, and she was fond of no one. She had one purpose in life; kill the Locust Horde. Not fall in love and live happily ever after. She gave Baird one last longing glance, and then buried the emotions that she felt for him.

She had to finish exacting her revenge on the Horde before she could ever hope to have a love life.

"If that is how you feel, but I wouldn't suggest it. War gets really lonely." said Dom. She looked at him confused. "Its written all over your face. You want to try and get to know him, but you won't let yourself." he said sadly.

She sighed and looked away. Dom was too wise for his own good sometimes.


	10. Chapter 8: Vengeance

**Authors Note: Sorry this took a while. But it is longer then the last one and its hard to find time to write between four stories and school and work. So these will kind of come slower. Sorry about it. I hope you like it and please review.**

To be traded into another's care was a hard thing to get over. Ezra was no longer Baird's burden, she was Dom's. All ownership had been passed over two weeks ago when Baird passed her to Dom. It hurt too. She hadn't thought it would hurt so much but it damn well did. Like today, a cold afternoon, the unit had stopped for a breather. She sat in the back of a cargo truck wearing only a thick rough blanket she had found, and still that hospital gown, which had seen better days. Her bare legs dangled over the tailgate, and for a second she let herself feel the freedom of her legs to and fro.

"You look like a child." said Dom's gentle voice. He came to stand next to her and handed her a food pack. She wondered if Baird would ever come to visit her. "Doctor says he can take your stitches out tonight when we make camp." he said in hopes to wipe that frown off her face. She sighed and tried not to think of her angry scars, a constant reminder of the day she cheated death.

After ripping the top of the food pack open she slowly started to eat the disgusting processed military food. "Thanks" she mumbled between bites. The sooner she ate, the sooner she could get the taste out of her mouth. Chicken and rice her ass. She finished her meal within minutes and Dom took the wrapper away from her. "He might come see you tonight." he said off handedly.

Ezra turned her black eyes to look at Dom. "Why?" she asked.

"I over heard Marcus and Anya speaking about how you two almost kissed. Then I overheard Baird say to Cole he had to tell you first before someone else did." he explained as he looked over in the distance to Marcus who was discussing coordinates with Anya and Hoffman. "Bitch." was all she had to say to that. "I think you are a lost cause." Dom said as he stood up and meant to leave.

"It is too hard, Dom. I don't deserve to be happy, or to love another." she said with a sad smile.

He turned to look at her confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I couldn't take care of my son. He died. Crushed beneath a Locust's boot, my little five year old Joseph curb stomped. Worst part of it, it is that I watched. He was playing in the front yard, I was washing dishes. When I looked up there he was, screaming for help, as a Locust grub knocked him down….." her voice trailed off as tears spilled down her face. "I am in the military. I could have taken care of him. But I didn't I just watched. I don't deserve an ounce of happiness. I deserve only revenge." she whispered through her tears.

"And now I am here, crying, and crying to you. You of all people don't deserve to have to hear my failures. Not after what has happened to you." she said.

Dom was so surprised, he didn't know what to say. Instead he took out a dirty rag and handed it to her. "Wipe your tears away." he commanded gently. She nodded and did as she was told. He wanted to let her cry, but he didn't want her to feel weak, and he didn't feel right as to being her shoulder to cry on. After handing back the rag, Dom left her to her dark thoughts.

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They pushed that day, further from the seismic activity to safe ground. They pushed until almost dark. They had all been lucky today not to run into any locusts. Very lucky as a matter of fact. Tonight, they had a safer place to lay their heads. After they stopped, orders were issues. "Dom, and Baird will take first watch at the east, Bravo company you split your men up and watch the west and north, and Hoffman get the rest of your men to watch the south." said Marcus as he lifted his Lancer into his hands. Everyone nodded.

Dom and Baird left to do as they were told. The took up position next to a tree that hadn't fallen yet. It shaded them gently from the setting sun. It felt like freedom for a moment. Their eyes scanned the shadows that were cast on roads and near by town. Rubble, the town was not longer a town, it was rubble. Baird sighed and looked back to the envoys. He saw her in the distance. She was speaking to her uncle. She wore an unhappy smile. Even from this distance he could see her sigh.

Dom followed his gaze and instantly he felt bad like he had earlier in the day. Her story kept playing over and over in his head. I deserve only revenge. Yes, she does deserve revenge, just like him, and everyone else who fought this war. His heart dropped when he thought of Maria. "She isn't so bad." said Baird as he continued to watch her.

Dom turned back to the darkening shadows of the east. Nothing. That was good to see nothing. He couldn't wait to get back to fighting though. Once they had the civilians safe, or as safe as they were going to get, Delta was going to go back and finish what they have started. "Yeah she isn't so bad." said Dom, not really know what else could be said about Ezra. It wasn't his place to tell Baird what she had told him.

"I think I like her." admitted Baird as he looked up at Dom. He expected Dom to look surprised, but he just looked pleased to hear Baird admit he liked Ezra. "Like I don't love her or anything, I just think she is a cooler person than we all thought she was." explained Baird, trying to redeem himself for saying he liked her. "Her stitches are being removed tonight." said Dom, turning the conversation a little bit.

Baird looked back at her. He wanted to be there to comfort her while it happened, but he wouldn't be. Even if he could be he wouldn't be there for her. He sighed and turned back to his job. He had to just forget about her.

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She laid naked on a makeshift table, in a makeshift tent. The doctor told her to have her hands over her head so it arched her back, so it would help him remove the stitches in her stomach. It hurt too and he had only begun. She wished someone was there to comfort her, to make her tears and pain go away. And her prayers were answered as Cole entered the tent. "Oh sorry." he said as his dark eyes flickered over her battered body. She wondered if she would look seductive like this if she didn't look so bad.

"Please Cole, can I hold your hand?" she asked before he could leave. His mouth worked in protest because she wasn't decent but her eyes won him over. They held such a need not to be alone in this that he walked deeper into the tent and came to stand near her hands. He looked at only her face, her dirty tear stricken face. He squatted down and gave her his hands, and he kept his eyes glued to her face, afraid to look at the rest of her. He didn't want to feel even more sorry than he already did by looking at her body.

She flinched when the doctor pulled too hard at her skin. His hands hurt after a few minutes. Damn, she has a grip on her. After ten long minutes, all the stitches were out of her stomach. She looked down at herself and frowned. Cole looked at her on accident and his stomach did a quick flip. It was red with irritation, and not only did she have thick angry scars, the stitching holes also scared, or were beginning to. She really did resemble a badly sewn together doll.

After a minute at gazing down at herself she turned her eyes back to Cole. Thankfully he was there still waiting to comfort her with his big brown eyes. "Thank you" she whispered. He nodded and smiled down at her. She really wasn't all that bad after all. Baird told him she wasn't as bad as she seemed and at first he didn't think that could be true. But now in her presence he understood. She was still strong, and somewhat abrasive, to the doctor, but she was still a woman who needed to be comforted.

Then he started to feel guilty. This should be Baird, comforting her, not him. This was not his place, and it made the tiny hairs on his neck stand on end. But did it really matter? It wasn't like Ezra and Baird were in a relationship, or even that they admitted they sort of like one another. So was this place? He sighed not sure how to feel.

Five minutes later the stitches in her leg were gone. Cole was almost sure that after this entire ordeal with this woman he was going to need to have stitches in his hands. Her nails were digging into him hard. Damn, it hurt too. Five more slow minutes, and she was done. "Well SSG Morg you are good as… well you are good that is all that matters. I would give it another week until you get back in uniform and even then two weeks until you are fully active." he said with a gentle smile as he stood up from his stool.

He went to a basin and washed his hands as Cole fetched her a blanket to cover herself as she sat up. Cole wondered what she would look like without being riddled with scars. She took the blanket with thanks and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Of by the way. You will have a permanent limp. It might hinder you in battle so you might want to consider a desk job, well more along the lines of what Anya does." said the Doctor nonchalantly.

Ezra glared daggers into his back. Oh by the way you have a limp. She made a psh noise and stood up. "Doc, can I wear some clothes now?" she asked. "Yeah, talk to Marcus or Hoffman though. They will know where to find you some supplies." said the Doctor as he waved her away.

Outside the tent Cole found himself laughing as Ezra stormed towards her uncle, well limped, clothed only in the blanket he had given her. He was right, she wasn't that bad. Halfway to her uncle she stopped and turned to look at Cole. "Thanks again!" she called as she whirled around and went off again.

"Welcome." he called behind her.

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Baird his displeasure when he found out after his shift that Cole had seen Ezra naked. He understood the circumstances, but it didn't make him feel any better about it. It should have been him standing there to comfort her. What am I saying? We are not an item and never will be. In the distance he watched as the sky lit up with battle. That is why we won't ever be together. There is a war going on. We don't have time to be love sick puppies.

But no matter what he thought, he still went to seek her out. He found her sitting by a scorched tree. The poor tree had seen better days, just like her. He was pleased to find her clothed in a grey t-shirt that was a little too large for her, and some black cargo pants that fit under COG armor, and black leather boots. It was a blessing that Hoffman had been able to find her clothing. But when the time came armor was another problem all together. He doubted that they would be able to find her armor.

He sat down beside her and leaned against the tree. "Nice to see you in something that fits better than a hospital gown." he said sarcastically. She made a noise that sounded like a sigh mixed with a laugh. He laughed awkwardly and looked at her. She was cleaner too. She had been able to wash up a little bit. Her hair unfortunately was still dirty. But so was his. In fact is blonde hair was taking on a red orange tint to it from dirt and locust blood. When you chainsawed one of those ugly bastards you always got it in your hair. But her face was clean and that is what that mattered.

He could see her more clearly this way. She was prettier then he actually knew. Nice creamy skin. He looked away quickly, he couldn't enjoy looking at her that much could he?

She made a content sigh as she stared up at the sky. It was cloudy with smoke, not a star in sight. So unromantic. That was good though, she couldn't afford having a romantic night. "What is your story Baird? Why are you such an asshole? Not saying I think you are an asshole, just saying word in this envoy is you are a major prick." she said, breaking the silence before it became uncomfortable. He laughed. But it was a gentle laugh, not one that said "I am upset."

"I'm not an asshole, I just am brutally honest, and I am….. Bitter." the words flew out like she had cast a spell over him to tell the truth. He looked surprised that he admitted it to her. "Why the bitterness?" she asked.

He sighed. He was going to regret this. He knew he was.

"I was going to marry her. Gloria. I was going to marry Gloria." he started. "I loved her so much. So much that when she said she was three weeks pregnant I tried to move the wedding dates up. She told me no……. Then she told me it wasn't mine. I didn't think about it at the time. I had been off on duty for a month in a half, and she was three weeks pregnant. My Gloria had cheated on me. She broke my heart. But I loved her so much, when she begged me not to let her go, I didn't. I stayed by her side. All through the pregnancy too. I swore I still loved her and I did. And even thought the baby wasn't going to be mine. I would have loved it. Both her and the child died. But they didn't die because of this war. They died in child birth. The cord had been wrapped around the babies throat. And Gloria died from blood loss."

His voice was so void of motion that it made Ezra tear up. "I didn't loose anyone to this war." he whispered as he stared up at the sky. She wiped her tears away. "My husband Luke died of rust lung a year after we married. And my son…. My son Joseph died under the boot of a locust, while I watched." she explained, bursting into tears. It was so hard to hear his reasoning for being the way he was and think of her Joseph and Luke. She couldn't hold herself together anymore. Instead of comforting her, he just watched as she hid her face in her hands and cried. He was too void to feel that pain about Gloria. "Turns out… Gloria never cheated on me. I tracked down the guy she told me she had had sex with, and he said he didn't have sex with her. I asked the doctor and turns out she was more than three weeks pregnant when she had told me. The child had been mine. Worst of all, her mother told me Gloria knew the baby was mine. Stupid bitch lied to me. And I will never in my life understand why." he said as he looked away from her.

His words only made her cry harder. Who would do that to someone? She looked at him but he kept his face turned away from her. "What was Joseph like?" he asked, not wanting to dwell on Gloria any longer. He wanted to know more about her anyways. "He was my everything. He was the only reason I am still here today. Joseph was beautiful….." her words faltered as she began to cry more. "I watched him die from my kitchen window. My hands in dirty dishwater. I should have been able to save him. But, but…" this time he cut her off by putting an arm around her shoulder. "It is okay." he whispered as he drew her into his chest. "They will die. All of them" she whispered into his chest through her tears.

"They will. We will kill them all." he said.


	11. Chapter 9: Fight

**Author's Note: Okay so here is the next chapter. I am sorry that it has taken so long. Thanx for the feed back. I was going to add smut in this one, but it still didn't feel like the best time yet. I am trying to focus now a little more on the war before I just let them do it. It would be too easy to just let them do it already with no real relationship development. I need more individual and relationship character development before I feel comfortable doing that with Baird and Ezra. Make sense? I sure hope it does. Sorry for making you wait for it though.**

Anya was a saint. She had worked for three days to find Ezra some armor, and armor she found. It didn't matter that some of it was ill fitting, as long as she had armor. Ezra restrained herself from hugging Anya, she didn't like the woman enough to actually hug her. She just gave a curt nod. Anya smiled though, she knew that was all the thanks she was going to get out of this. It didn't matter though, she had supplied the demand just like Hoffman had told her to do.

She had even gotten Ezra a snub pistol and a lancer as well as a few other things she might need. She hoisted up the Lancer onto her shoulder, with effort, but it went up smoothly. It was hard to hold back her excitement. It had been two weeks and she was going back into the fire today. Yesterday they landed on high safe ground, so Delta was going back into the fire of the war, and Ezra was going with. And she was going all ready to help end this war.

After seeing Ezra in her new armor, Anya went back to setting up some computers she had also managed to get a hold of. She felt eyes on her and she turned to see Marcus. He wore a slight smile at seeing her. She knew it was a smile even though others may not know it. They had made love last night, so he had reason to smile, as well as herself. She smiled back but then went back to work. "Anya, need help with that?" asked Baird as he joined the group. She turned to look at the blonde. Boy, did these guys need a good shower. But she did too so she couldn't complain about appearances. "No I have it. But thanks." she said as she turned back to her work.

"Okay since we are all here, we have a plan. Anya and myself have decided that all we have done to this bastards still haven't killed them so we have to get in there and find out how to do so. It is your job Delta to figure it out. We have to end this war soon so you are all on a time crunch. We need to find out everything we can, and we need to do it quick. You are going to have to get in there deeper than you have ever been to figure this out." said Hoffman as he looked at all the faces of Delta. "I thought coming face to face with the Queen was as deep as it got." said Dom. It was true though, they had been that deep, so how much deeper could they really get. "Son, I don't know you are going to do it, it just needs to be done. We have to end this thing, and we have to do so now. We can't survive much longer if we don't" said Hoffman, his accent getting stronger the longer he spoke.

"You can count on us." said Marcus as he took a step forward. Ezra's skin tingled. This was it. She had spent so much time away, and finally she was getting back to what really mattered. "You are damned right I am counting on you bastards. Don't let me down either." said Hoffman with a smile. "Baby, I have a feeling now. This war is going to end soon. I just know it." said Cole as he patted Ezra on her back. She smiled up at him, kindly, just the way he was starting to like. He really was beginning to like this woman. Not in that he would want to be with her kind of way. Like that he could just really be friends with this woman. She made him feel at ease around her. In a way he couldn't feel with Baird, his best friend. He wondered if this is what Baird felt like around her. Probably not, Baird seemed to like her a lot more than Cole did.

"Let us hope that you are right." said Marcus.

"Ezra, is that a machete?" asked Dom as he looked at the rusted blade attached to her hip. "Yes." she said with a smile. "What the hell are you? Pesang?" asked Dom as he looked haunted by her smile. She was too happy to have a machete. "My father was." she said, her smile growing in its wickedness. "Then how are you related to Hoffman?" asked Baird, curious to learn more about her. "My mum was his wife's sister." she said as she looked at him. "She fights like a Pesang, when she ain't being lazy." mumbled Hoffman as he looked at his niece. He loved her like she was his own sometimes, like now when she was about to get back to the heat of things, risk her life, was when the intense love kicked in. That love that made him want to not let her go, because he could remember like it was yesterday that she was a kid. He sighed.

"That might come in handy." Marcus said as he looked over to her. She smiled and gave a curt nod, signaling she was ready.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

It was true, she fought like a Pesang. They made it fifteen clicks from the base before they saw a locust. They laid low and watched as the Locust patrol stood around, their dark eyes scanning around. "I got this." she whispered to Marcus, who laid on his belly next to her. "No you don't." complained Baird in a harsh whisper. She turned her dark eyes his way and he looked away. He had to not start this. He wasn't her keeper, or anything of too much importance to her. If anything he was just a friend. She had made it clear that winning this war was the most important thing to her. She couldn't be bothered by a petty relationship.

But if he was in her shoes he knew he would understand it more. He reflected a moment on the conversation they had. It brought them closer, but not the closeness that he was beginning to want from her. He hadn't known her too long, but he knew that he wanted to be with this woman on an intimate level. She didn't feel the same though, or he thought she didn't. Maybe she had that day the raven had went down and they had almost kissed, but not now. That day she had let her guard down, now her wall was up, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to scale it.

"I say we let her go, if she wants to." whispered Dom as he crawled closer to his squad. Marcus nodded and looked to Ezra. She looked like a kid in a candy store for the first time. "Go." he ordered in a whisper.

She rolled away from them, and ducked into the shadow of the tall grass that stood between Delta and the Locusts. No one saw her, and more than that, no one saw movement in the grass. She was good. It was a long ten minutes until they saw her again. She eased up behind the nearest Locust to their right. She already had her machete drawn and ready. It was like watching an assassin. She slit its throat and slowly lowered the body to the ground. She ducked back into the shadows. Not even one noise from her or the dead Locust.

It sent a chill up Baird's spine. Ezra was a dangerous woman. No wonder she outranked Marcus before she joined up with Delta. He looked to Marcus, his usual angry face turned in true surprise. "I didn't think she would be able to do it." he admitted as they continued to watch.

It was another ten minutes until she did the same to another locust on the far left. "She is taking out their flanks." whispered Dom as he looked through his scope, trying to see if he could spot her in the grass. He couldn't. "Baby, remind me not to get on her bad side, she will sneak attack me." said Cole as he watched her come up behind another Locust and slit its throat too. Ten minutes later, she was back with them. She had left three of the Locust standing. It was funny that they were so involved with looking around in the distance, that they didn't even noticed their fallen comrades. She laid on her back, breathing hard.

"Told you shouldn't have gone." whispered Baird so only she could hear him. Just that sneaking around had taken a lot of her. She wasn't back to peak condition yet. She made to punch Baird but was too tired. "Don't worry, we have the rest." said Marcus as he peered through his scope. It was something she would never forget. Dom, Marcus, and Cole all three fired their Longshots at the same time, dropping the three remaining Locusts at the same time. It was like demented poetry the way the locusts hit the ground that the same time.

She wished she would have watched, instead of just listening and staring up into the overcast sky. She wondered if it was really overcast, or if it was just smoke from all of the fires. She started to doze there, feeling the freedom of just laying in the grass. Her eye lids became heavy, and she was having a hard time keeping them open. "Come on, we are moving." said Baird as he poked her with the toe of his boot to her ribs.

Her eyes flashed open, she hadn't even noticed that the rest of Delta had stood up and was ready to move.

Xxxxxxxxx

They found a half destroyed building to lie low in for the night. If Ezra had to guess what kind of building it used to be she would have to say it might have been a storage facility. It took them ten minutes to check the facility for any fresh signs of Locusts. There was none, so they found a small room to bed down for the night.

"So, why do you think we only came across two patrol groups today?" asked Dom. Marcus shrugged. "Something is going on and I am not sure. Two small patrol groups weren't enough." said Marcus. "It is fishy." said Cole as he looked up from his food pack. They were scarce on food packs so they had to limit themselves to one a day.

Ezra giggled. "The food is fishy or the lack of Locusts are fishy?" she asked. Cole snorted. "Both." he said as he watched her force the meal down. "These might be all we need to live on, but this shit is fucking gross." complained Baird. "Yeah they are." agreed Marcus. Funny, it was only one of the few things these two men agreed on.

After they ate Marcus assigned watch intervals to everyone, except Ezra. Baird was first with Dom, and then Cole and Marcus. "What about me?" she asked as she looked to Marcus as he made himself comfortable on the ground. "You still need your rest. You worked hard toady, and that last squad took a lot out of you because of the wretches." he explained as he closed his eyes.

She nodded, biting back a complaint. It was true though. She needed rest, she had almost been attacked by a wretch when she ran out of ammo. She ran away from it until she could load her gnasher shotgun, that she had found before the battle, to shoot it. And running with the armor she was wearing was taxing to her body. She found a place next to Cole and Baird's things and laid down. She watched them as they removed some of their armor, getting comfortable before they went out for watch.

She watched them until sleep took over. It felt good to sleep, even if it was on hard ground.

She woke a few hours when she felt movement next to her. She looked over to Baird who was trying to get comfortable on his back.

"I hate the ground." he complained. She just smiled and looked to Cole who was already snoring loudly. "Cole train has nothing with his thrash ball days. They are just speaking of what he sounds like when he snores." said Baird jokingly. She laughed quietly as did he.

The tension between them could almost be seen. He sighed and turned his head away from her. He wasn't sure how to really act now. It was a wonder how even having such a deep moment with someone could just push you so far away from them. She turned back to him and watched him as he tried to sleep. "Pretend you are in a bed, it helps." she said. "Yeah, a dirty, very firm bed." he laughed. "Shut up you two." mumbled Cole as he started to snore again. They both hushed, Cole actually sounded angry. She rolled over and propped her head up on her hand to stare down at Baird. He looked up at her and almost laughed at the look on her face. She looked like she was about to mother him. He recognized that face on women. It was when they were about to say something they thought was important.

She leaned into him and whispered. "You know for a big bad COG soldier, you whine a lot about sleeping on the ground." He shrugged. "I can do what I want." he whispered back.

"Get some sleep Ezra." he whispered before he tried to talk to her about things she didn't want to talk about, and at the moment he really didn't want to talk about it either. She nodded and laid back down, falling asleep within moments.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Morning dawned with the sound of gunshots and the vibrations of mortars. "Get up." screamed Baird as he was already moving. Cole jumped up next, donning his armor and getting his guns at ready. Ezra took a moment. She needed help putting on her armor, but didn't have any so she had to manage by herself. She picked up her lancer and followed the two out into the fire.

With the golden gentleness of the sunrise also was the harsh fire that was left by the mortars. It smelled of fresh debris, and burnt carcasses. Immediately all three of them hugged the same wall. "Marcus?" called Cole over the COMM.

"Your 7 o'clock." said Marcus through his cover fire of Dom. Ezra laid down some cover fire as Baird and Cole moved forward. She managed to drop one grub before she ran out of bullets. "Shit." she whispered as she tossed her gun over her shoulder. Two days in a row, running out of bullets wasn't a good omen. Her Gnasher was also out of ammo too now. The only thing left was her snub pistol. She pulled out that, but she had to get closer to the heat otherwise she would never hit a target.

Baird gave her some cover fire as she moved up to where Marcus was positioned. Fighting with a snub pistol would have never been her choice, but one made due what they had. The battle started to take on a repetitive flow. Aim, Fire, Reload. Aim Fire, Reload. She was lucky if her bullets actually made a scratch on the grubs at this distance. "I need to get closer." she said to Marcus. He nodded and she moved forward.

Baird tried not to watch her move further into the heat of battle, but it was hard not to worry for her. He silently cursed her for doing something so dangerous to herself. But he wasn't her keeper, he had to constantly remind himself of that solid fact.

Finally, she came close enough to drop some grubs on their asses, the only problem was she was close enough she might as well as use her Machete as her weapon of choice. A mortar struck a building too close to her comfort. She spun out of the way and hugged a fallen wall as fireballs scattered across the air and ground. It made her scalp tighten and her gut cramp painfully in terror. She was okay, but it didn't make her feel any better, that she was again close to death. But fighting a war was just that, being on a constant closeness to death.

She looked up and sighed. That wasn't a mortar, that was a boomshot. She only realized that because now walking through the new rubble was a boomer. She cursed and retreated closer to Delta. They were in deep now. They still had an entire squadron of twenty grubs or so to kill, and now a boomer.

She turned to run towards Delta when she heard her name being screamed by Cole and Marcus. She came face to face with a grub. Unfortunately for the grub she was fast, she shot it in the knee three times and it dropped and shot off to its left. She then pulled out her lancer and revved the chainsaw. She brought down the blades into its should her. At first the blades just skidded across skin. The locust screamed in pain. Quickly she put her weight on to her gun, making the blades saw into flesh, bone, meat, arteries. Arterial blood sprayed up into a heavy mist. The blood splattered onto her face thickly, and also onto her armor. Finally the grub shut up, and she stopped the chainsaw and threw it back over her shoulder after disengaging herself from the grub.

She continued towards Delta with her machete unsheathed, ready to kill. She was sure she saw some surprised looks from the men, but in truth she was surprised too. She had really just did that, she who wasn't fully healed yet, just chainsawed a grub. "Damn you smell." said Marcus as he targeted the boomer as the rest of them continued to try to take down the rest of the grubs. "I will take showering into consideration ASAP." she laughed. He too laughed. Humor in the heat of battle wasn't such a bad thing. Now was not the best time to think about showering, so she took a moment to assess the situation. Seven more grubs and the ugly boomer.

She took up Marcus' longshot, her snub no longer an option at this distance. He was low on bullets, but she had a better chance at least wounding them, than just wasting bullets. Her first shot was pure lucky. She might as well got the luckiest girl award with that shot. It was a head shot, popping a grubs head like it was a balloon filled with gore. She laughed in triumph and took aim at another one.

She heard Marcus grunting next to her in anger. He still had yet taken down the boomer. She dropped another grub with a shot to its heart. Her last shot was just a knee shot, dropping the grub for Dom to finish off. Now, she was more than useless in this battle. She held her machete, trying to formulate a plan on killing the boomer with her bare hands, chances were though, it would end in her dying.

But she didn't have time to think any longer on the subject. The boomer took aim, and shot, right at Baird who wasn't behind a good solid cover and wasn't looking at him. It was like time slowed. She saw as the grenade whish past her and Marcus. As it came closer to Baird, it was like realization struck her. She couldn't loose Baird. Sometimes, even in the worst of times, people found people they could be with. And he was someone who she could be with. It wasn't love, it was a deep friendship that she didn't share with these other men. It was also a start of what might one day be love, who really ever knew these things. But all that was going to end if that grenade struck him.

"Baird!" she screamed until she was hoarse with fear and lack of breath. She had watched her son die, she wasn't about to let someone else she cared for die on her watch again. He spun and looked up just in enough time to see the grenade….

**I know, evil cliffhanger. I don't usually do cliffhangers but I am trying it on, and I kind of like it lol. Please review.**


	12. Chapter 10: Losing You

**Author's Note: First I like to say sorry for this taking so long. Second Sorry if this chapter seems choppy. Running out of Ideas sorry. But I tried to make it long so hopefully that is a plus. Well I hope you like it. Um so this one might be a little more girly than I intended Ezra to be at this point towards Baird but I try to bring her back a little towards the end.**

He spun and looked up just in enough time to see the grenade….

His eyes widened. He was like a deer stuck in headlights. But fight or flight instinct took over. He quickly ducked behind the fallen wall he was behind. It saved his life. That was all he cared about. It didn't matter that the grenade hit his cover, blowing it over on top of him. All he cared about was he was still breathing, and other than being crushed under the wall, he wasn't hurt. He closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer. If it wasn't for Ezra, he would be dead. Cold realization hit him. He had almost died. It wasn't a good thought.

He didn't know what happened through the rest of the fight. All he knew was he couldn't get from up under this stone wall. It had his legs pinned and he couldn't move. But it didn't matter, he was in one solid piece. In fact because of Ezra, he was going to walk away from this day with only a few bruises on his shins, and maybe a scratch or two. He was lucky that he hadn't even been burnt.

He tried to look up and around to make sense of the battle, but he couldn't see, too much cover was in his view. It wasn't a problem though, he heard the cries of victory. He just laid back and tried to relax. His heart beat wildly in his chest, fear still gripped him. It was like cold fingers had a firm grasp on his heart. It felt like death's cold fingers. He hadn't noticed until that moment, he was shacking from the adrenaline rush of the fear he felt. He closed his eyes and tried to breath.

Baird didn't think he had been so scared in his entire life. "Baird!" Ezra yelled as she came to kneel next to his head. He was starting to loose consciousness due to the adrenaline rush. He couldn't seem to control his rapid breathing, or his pounding heart. Before he blacked out, all he could think about was how this woman was like a blessing in disguise. He wanted to believe her to be his angel, but that was too unlike him to think so he settle on her being a blessing. It was good enough for him.

His lids slowly closed, but he could feel her touching his face, could hear her telling him to wake back up. But he couldn't comply with her urgent demands. He wanted to, but couldn't. He was too excited still, and not that good excited.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Finally she moved so the men could help him. He had drifted into unconsciousness and she had tried to bring him back, but it didn't work. Now she just stood back and watched as Marcus and Cole pulled the stone off of his legs. Dom, careful of any unknown injuries, pulled Baird free. He dragged him to more even ground then stood back. _Don't cry. You can't cry. You aren't that weak_.

In the time it took to move him, Ezra calmed herself. She knelt down and examined him. He looked fine, a few cuts, a forming bruise here and there, but nothing else. "So he fainted from fear?" asked Marcus as he too noticed that Baird was in pretty much peak condition. "No, he passed of because his heart rate is too high." she said as she counted his pulse. 210. It was way too high, but wouldn't kill him, hopefully. A brush with death would leave anyone shaken like this, it was only normal for his pulse to be that high because of the excitement of the moment. It was simple anatomy to know that any normal person would pass out if their heart rate exceeded the normal range, and 210 was way outside of normal range.

Marcus apologized, realizing that making fun of Baird at a time like this was not a good thing to do. It wasn't like the man had fainted and pissed his pants. It was his heart was beating too fast for him to slow down, so his body just seemed to shut down for it to happen quicker.

It was five minutes until he opened his eyes. He groaned at doing so. "Marcus, get away from me, When I wake up, you are the last face I want to see." he said as he shut his eyes again, a headache creeping up on him. "Eh, you better get over it." mumbled Marcus with a faint laugh. Baird smiled but didn't open his eyes. Darkness felt better to him. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, all he knew was not his pulse seemed normal, and he wasn't shaking because his heart was beating too fast anymore.

"We are going to have to find a place near by to rest. He ain't going to be able to finish out the day." said Dom. "I can…" he trailed off, his head pounding with an intense pain. It made him sick to his stomach. He rolled over and emptied the contents of his stomach at Marcus' feet. "Shitt, gross man." said Marcus as he moved away from Baird. As he continued to puke, he felt a hand on his back, rubbing in circular motions. It was a comfort, especially when he realized that it was Ezra who was doing it.

He cursed himself though, he had been shot at before with a boomshot, but never had he been that close to death. He wondered if Ezra had felt like this when they had found her. He puked one more time. Ezra handed him her a cloth that she had in her pack and gave it to him. He wiped his mouth off and tossed the cloth, not wanting to give it back to her.

"I think I am good now." he said as he slowly stood up. Ezra wrapped his arm around her shoulders to help him balance when he swayed. "Thanks." he whispered as his eyes drooped. "Man, you are not okay." said Dom. He was right though, his stomach rolled again and he felt sick again. Sicker than he had before. He needed to sit down and just try to let his headache ease and his stomach settle.

"Shit, did you hear that?" asked Cole as he perked up and turned to the west. It was the sound of a grenade going off. "Ah, we don't have time for this shit now." cursed Marcus. It was true though, they needed to let Baird rest, not have to fight again until he felt better. "Cole, Ezra take Baird, find a safe spot. Dom on me. We will radio you when it is safe." Commanded Marcus.

"Okay." said Cole as he wrapped Baird's free arm around his shoulders to help Ezra hold his weight.

Xxxxxxxxx

"It looks safe enough." said Ezra as Cole entered what was left of a house. The door creaked open, but nothing stirred at the sound, which was a good sign. "We can go back you know, I feel much better." said Baird, hoping to convince them he wasn't in a weak state even if he still was. "You need to rest." whispered Ezra. "Well, my stomach feels better." he said defiantly as they entered the house. "Yeah well I will believe you are better when you can open your eyes longer than a minute without wincing." she whispered into his ear. He liked the way her breath tickled his ear.

She was right. He was having a hard keeping his eyes open. Cole took the lead and checked the house. Ezra leaned Baird against the wall to relieve herself of some of his weight. "Here." she said as she popped a pill into his mouth. It tasted slightly of mint. He breathed it in, enjoying the way it took the taste of stomach acid out of his mouth. "Thanks." he said, looking at her worried face. It was the first time he realized that she wore a worried look. He reached out and touched her face.

She crumbled then. Tears poured forth from her eyes. "Don't you ever let this happen again." she whispered harshly. He sighed. Yes, like it was his fault that he would have died today. But he didn't say anything. "You need to watch out more, be more careful. Don't let your guard down." she said as she wiped away the tears. She couldn't let Cole catch her. In fact she pulled away from Baird, she couldn't get caught with him touching her either.

"Some of the rooms have beds, which if I do say myself is great. Also, not a damned sign of the Locusts." said Cole as he joined them again. With the help of Cole, Ezra took Baird to the closest bedroom. Baird laid down with a sigh. It didn't matter that the mattress belonged to someone who was most likely dead now, and it was filthy. It was a bed, and it was comfortable non the less. He immediately fell asleep as soon as his head fell back against the mattress.

"I will take watch until Marcus and Dom get here. Stay here with him." said Cole as he exited the room. She nodded at the empty door and turned back to the sleeping Baird. Without a second thought she stripped herself of her armor and then turned back to Baird. "Baird wake up so I can get this stuff off of you." she whispered as she started to tug at his boots. He woke up instantly and without groaning. He say up slowly so not to become dizzy. He kicked his boots off so he could help her. She moved to take off his breast plate and he helped her take it off too. "Shoulder plates." he said. She nodded and moved behind him to undo the buckles to his shoulder plates. He shrugged off the shoulder plates and leaned up against her.

She wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him to her. She bowed her head on his. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her heart. Her heart beat was fast, like she was still afraid of something. He knew what she was afraid of, he knew that she didn't want to lose him. He smiled. Today had changed a lot between them, even if it was unspoken. "I don't want to lose you Baird." she whispered. Okay, even if it was spoken. He didn't have to look at her to know that she was crying as she held him. "I feel like you are the only real friend I have in this war." she whispered.

He knew what this was about though. She had seen too many people die that she cared for, and she cared for him. So she didn't want to lose him too. He reached up and grasped her hands that where on his chest. "I don't want to lose me either." he joked. She laughed. "You need to rest." she demanded as she pushed him forward a little bit so she could get up. He laid back down when she moved out of his way, but he grabbed her hand as she went to leave.

She turned and looked at him. He looked at her through a hooded gaze. "Lay with me." he said as he pulled her closer to him. She sighed. She was uncomfortable with that thought, but she complied. She positioned herself next to him and used his chest as a pillow. It was no time until they both had fallen asleep.

Xxxxxxxxx

"You weren't lying about there being beds." said Marcus happily. He fell on top of the nearest bed and sighed. Instantly his eyes closed in a euphoric state. "This is what heaven feels like." said Marcus. No one understood him though, his face was turned into the mattress so his words were stifled. Dom laughed at his friend. "So how is watch going tonight?" asked Cole. Already though, Marcus was snoring, rather loudly. Dom rolled his eyes. "I guess I will take first watch with you, and then later we will wake his ass up and make him watch with Ezra." said Dom, as they both turned to do their duty.

Outside was quiet. But not too quiet. "He would have died today wouldn't he?" asked Cole as he gazed out into the distance. Dom looked to the bigger man. Baird and Cole were best friends. Cole was afraid of his best friend dying, Dom realized. He also realized that if Baird had died today, who would do all of the technical stuff? Turned out the blonde was a lot more valuable to the team than he thought. He sighed. "Yeah, we have Ezra to thank for not letting him die." Dom said as he too looked out into the distance.

"Did you see how horrified she looked?" asked Dom as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Cole nodded. "Yeah, I did. Made me realize she loves him." said Cole with a small smile. "I wouldn't say she loved him yet. Just really likes him." said Dom. Cole shrugged. "What is the difference in this war. Like might as well be love." said Cole as he looked to Dom. "I would kill right now to have a loving family. I don't want to look back and think all I did was fight a war and play thrash ball. I want a woman. And maybe some runts." said Cole, his eyes slightly more liquid than normal. Dom gave a sharp intake of breath.

"I want Maria back." said Dom. It was hard to admit these things, but doing so brought men closer. Delta squad were all brothers. They all fought together, they all lost together, and one day they would all die together. It was the closest bond these men had now to anyone. All they had were each other. No one else would save Delta from this war, only Delta could save themselves.

Xxxxxxxxx

She hadn't wanted to get up, but she couldn't stay all night in bed with Baird. Not when she finally woke up and she heard Marcus' heavy footsteps coming towards the room. She got up and grabbed her Gnasher. She opened the door as soon as Marcus was reaching it. She looked up at him and frowned. "We got watch now." he said as he looked over her shoulder at the sleeping Baird. He looked surprised. "What? Can't believe he has clothes on still?" she asked with a smile. "Actually, just wondering why he didn't take the opportunity to make you pity him." laughed Marcus. "Trust me, I am not good at the whole pity fuck thing." she said as she moved passed him. He stood there a moment, finally realizing that he had hurt her feelings.

He sighed and followed her out to relieve Cole and Dom. They thanked them and disappeared into the house. "Sorry, didn't mean to insinuate that you would do such a thing." he said. She shrugged and found a place to sit down. He let himself look at her openly. She was filthy. They were all filthy, but he seemed to only notice that she was the worst. Maybe it was because he noticed compared to other women, she wasn't too concerned with trying to wash up every chance she got. Anya kept herself clean. He liked that about her. Still so feminine in these times of war.

Ezra reminded him of dog, where Anya reminded her of a rare flower. "You should stop doing that." she said, not looking at him.

"Stop doing what?" he asked.

"Stop comparing your woman to me. It makes no sense to talk her up in your head like that. It is like you are trying to compare fire to ice. Trying to convince yourself that she is perfect. Don't you already know that she is perfect? The two of you are so in love it is sickening. You don't have to look at me and think about how she shines over me." she whispered.

He grunted and looked away. "But she does out shine you." he teased. "That might be so, but I would like to see what the hell she looked like if she actually were a fighter." she teased back. It might have been teasing but at the same time, it was her trying to convince him he was comparing a flower to a dog. They didn't mix. If he wanted to compare Anya, he needed to compare her with a woman like Anya. It was like he was trying to talk her up in his head. By saying well she is good for me because she is clean, where as Ezra is a dirty mess.

Ezra busied herself with picking the dirt from under her fingernails. "You suck at watch, you know that?" he asked as his eyes scanned the darkness. "I can hear better than I can see right now. In case you didn't notice, it is dark out here." she said with a laugh. He didn't want to laugh but he did. He couldn't see anything either. He relaxed into a wall behind him so he could relieve some of his weight off of his feet. All this armor was sometimes too damned heavy.

He looked down at her. He should have done the same, taken off his armor. "So, what do you plan to do after this war?" he asked, trying to make small talk. "Take a month long shower." she said with a smile. "You?" she asked as she looked at him through the darkness. "Joining you in that shower." he laughed. "Maybe Anya can join, and we can make a date of it." she laughed. "Yeah, don't think she would be into that." he said seriously. She giggled as she started to chew on her now clean nails. "Seriously, what are you planning on doing?" he asked. "Growing old and dying peacefully." she said. He sighed. He was trying to have a serious conversation with this woman, and she wouldn't be serious. She looked at him when she realized that he wasn't trying to joke anymore. "I really haven't though about it Marcus. If I live, I guess try to start my life over. Build a house, get a cat, and well be lonely." she whispered.

"What about Baird?" he asked. "What about him?" she asked as she continued to look up at him. "We all know you like him. What kind of future is there for the two of you if you both survive?" he asked. "I don't know." she snapped. She wasn't comfortable speaking on this matter with Marcus. If she survived and Baird survived there was no promise that they would be anything to each other. They would have to have more now for it to make a difference in the future. And she was still to hard pressed about not wanting Baird, even though she did want him. She was beginning to be able to admit that to herself, if not to anyone else.

Such conflicting feelings about one person was aggravating. "You still need your rest, so go back inside. I can handle this." commanded Marcus in his usual gruff voice. "You sure? Don't need me here to protect you anymore?" she asked with a laugh. She could see him smile even in this dark night. "Get some rest. You look like you need your beauty sleep." he laughed.

She laughed and stood up. "Marcus, what do you plan to do after this war?" she asked. "I plan on marrying Anya. I love her." he said. She looked at him and nodded. If Marcus Fenix could admit what he really wanted, why couldn't she? She sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "You sir, are going to have your work cut out for you. That woman is only going to birth you daughters. And the gruff Marcus we all know is going to turn into the man surrounded by women. If this war doesn't kill you, your one day daughters will." she teased. He laughed.

"I have a soft side." he said. "Yeah I can see it now. Marcus Fenix playing dolls with his little Anya Jr." she said. He shook his head at her. "Anya Jr.? Seriously?" he asked. "Well unless you are going to name your first little girl Marcus Jr." she laughed as she started back into the house. "You know, I hope whenever you have kids you are blessed with little girls." called Marcus behind her. "I am a woman who only bares strong healthy sons." she said as she disappeared into the house.

Xxxxxxxxxx

He was sitting up when she entered the room. He felt good enough that he had gotten up to relieve himself, and he had just sat back down when she entered. "Feeling better?" she asked as she put down her Gnasher after shutting the door behind her. "Just a little bit. Still have a headache." he said as she looked up at her. She nodded and tied her hair up into a loose bun. It was then he noticed that he hadn't really seen her with her hair down since she had been riddled with wounds.

He wanted her to take her hair down, but he didn't want her to protest with him, so he kept his mouth shut. She stared at him openly and a worried expression settled upon her face. "You still look like shit." she said. Baird snorted and looked up at her. "Thanks, you look like shit yourself." he muttered. She smiled and shrugged. "Well, I am going to go find a bed, so night." she said as she turned to leave. "So, you came in here and now you are just leaving?" he asked confused. "I came to make sure you were okay, and I see that you are in a bad mood now, so I am going." she said as she looked at him over her shoulder.

"I am in a bad mood because I have a headache." he said as he glared at her. She sighed. Baird always whining about something. "Well get some rest Damon." she said in a whisper. Hearing his name from her lips calmed him a little bit. "Goodnight." he said. She simply nodded and went to leave. "Wait? Don't I at least get a damned hug?" he asked. He was curious to know if she would actually do it. She glanced back at him. Her expression was unreadable, but her dark eyes were watery. He got up and took a step towards her. "What is wrong?" he asked. Had something happened? She looked as if she was going to cry and he sure as hell wasn't the reason for it.

_If Marcus can do it, I can do it_! Screamed her mind. _Just tell him that you like him, you already told him that he was your only real friend_! She just put on a fake smile and said that she was "fine". He nodded, but he knew something was wrong. She touched his cheek with her finger tips and looked at his lips. She wanted him to kiss her. But instead, she turned on her heel and left him staring after her.


	13. Chapter 11: We have a Sink

**Author's Note: I am sorry this has taken so long. I have so much stuff going on with school and trying to join the military. Well I hope you like it. I am not going to lie, I do not think this is my best chapter, I am at a stand still with this story. I am trying to think of something fun to write, but instead I feel like I am just repeating myself. I did do something in this chapter that is a start to something. I hope you like it.**

Everyday that passed and the closer they got into enemy territory, the harder it was becoming not to come out and tell each other that they were falling for one another. Now, they sat near each other under the night sky, trying to keep watch while the rest of Delta slept. But just being near each other was making it hard to actually stand and watch, so they sat, but even that had its fall backs. Both were weary from travel, so both had drooping eye lids, threatening to shut at any moment so they could just snatch a few moments of sleep.

Sleep was the new drug to Delta. Every moment they got to sleep was a euphoric state that they never wanted to wake up from. War did this to people, survival did it to them too. It was the most precious thing they had at the moment, and they were all going to savor it no matter what.

Her lids slipped closed and Baird pinched her arm. Her eyes flew open and she groaned. She was so tired that she just wished if they were going to be attacked already that the locusts would just go ahead and do it already so she could just go to sleep. Tears pricked her eyes because she was so tired. She looked to Baird. He was just as tired. His lips were tight so he wouldn't yawn. So she did it for him. She yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

His eyes scanned the darkness and his lids too started to droop. "I sure hope we are almost done with watch." he whispered, making her eyes fly back open in alarm. He laughed at her as she looked around, aware. "Sorry I scared you." he whispered as he looked to her. She sighed and drew her knees up to her chest. "It is bloody cold." she breathed harshly as she rubbed her hands over her upper arms. "I know." he said as he slung his arm over her shoulders. "Thanks, but this isn't necessary." she said with a smile.

"Liar." he whispered as he drew her closer. "The warmer I am Baird, the sleepier I will be." she grumbled as she came in contact with his side. "Then sleep." he commanded as he continued to scan the darkness. Her lids drifted shut in compliance after she made herself comfortable against his side. Sleep had almost took her over when she heard something. Her eyes flew open and blinked a few times to cure herself of the blurriness. "Did you hear that?" she asked as she sat up.

"Yeah, unfortunately I did." he said as he slowly stood up, eyes intent on the darkness, upset that their moment was now ruined. She stood up too and hoisted her lancer higher into her arms. They became silent and listened. There is was again. It sounded like someone walking towards them. Heavy footfalls in the rubble continued closer to them. Whatever it was, it was big. Baird saw it first. "Bloodmount." he breathed as he pointed it out in the darkness. "It has no rider." she whispered. Baird nodded and pulled out his sniper rifle. He took aim and before he shot he stopped. "What are you doing?" she whispered. "There are more of them." he whispered back.

Ezra glanced around. There was a whole bloody herd of bloodmounts, and no riders in sight. "What do we do?" she asked in a whisper.

"Go get Marcus. Be quiet." he said as he watched her slink away into the darkness.

As he waited he watched as two bloodmounts began to fight. It was strange to think that they were no different than wolves fighting for dominancy. It was a few minutes of them fighting before one surrendered to the other.

Marcus came to stand next to him, with Ezra next to him. "What the hell?" whispered Marcus as he noticed the herd of bloodmounts. It was fascinating no doubt but terrifying at the same time. "What are we going to do?" asked Ezra.

"Well, we need to kill them, but there is so many of them." said Marcus as his eyes scanned over the herd. There were nearly thirty to forty bloodmounts out there. How did they kill them all without giving away their position? "There is the issue." said Ezra. They stood there a moment longer before Marcus made his decision. "We need to kill them. Ezra, go wake the others." he said as he looked over to her. She nodded, but he could see her fear. They were all low on ammo, so how was this going to work?

She returned a moment later with the rest of Delta. Everyone had the same reaction. Surprised, but worried that they were going to make a mistake. "How many grenades do we have?" asked Marcus, an idea coming to him. "I have four." Ezra said.

"Two." said Dom.

"Six." said Cole with a wide smile.

"One." said Baird.

"Well I have three." said Marcus as he pulled his out and crouched onto the ground so he could set them out.

Everyone did the same as him. "Okay, here is the plan-" began Marcus but Dom cut him off. "We are going to rain these things done on them." finished Dom.

Marcus stared at his friend. With a sigh he nodded. "And then what?" asked Cole as he looked out to the bloodmounts. "Then we shoot the rest, and run like hell." said Baird with a sardonic laugh. "Ugh and just when I thought I was going to get to sleep tonight." Ezra said as she elbowed Baird in his ribs. "Hey you napped a little." he teased.

The rest of Delta looked between Baird and Ezra who teased each other in whispers. "You two should just do it already and get it over with." said Marcus as he shook his head at them. Both Ezra and Baird stopped what they were doing and became serious. She glared daggers into Marcus and he looked sorry that he said anything. "Alright are we ready?" asked Dom trying to make a diversion.

"Yeah, as ready as we will ever be baby." said Cole with a smile.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"I am out." said Ezra as she ducked behind cover and started to pray. They had massacred the bloodmounts but now, they were trying to hold off the locusts that had came across them. Baird through her a case. "That is all I have." he said as he continued to drop locust after locust. She loaded her gun and started to shoot again.

They had been fighting like this for an hour, and it was getting hard not to just run. They were really low on ammo and they had no more grenades. "Shit!" yelled Dom as he ducked down low so the could un-jam his gun. It took him a moment to pull the bullet free from the chamber, once he did he threw it down to the ground and reloaded so he could get back in the fight.

Marcus took a shot to the chest and thanked the COG for making them wear such thick armor that saved his life daily. He aimed and killed the locust that shot him and laughed when it fell into a heap. Cole laughed and made quick jokes after his kills, and Baird just made sarcastic remarks. And Ezra, just tried to fight her exhaustion to shoot straight. She had never thought she had been this tired ever. She aimed, was sure she was on her mark, shot, and missed. She just didn't miss, she missed hard. She sighed and blinked a few times to rid the sleep that was trying to form in her eyes. "Come on Ezra, you have to get into the fight." antagonized Marcus when he noticed that she was struggling.

It helped though, his bothering her like that. Heated her mind, and woke her up to get back into the fight. She aimed and shot and killed that Locust she had just missed. She sighed happily, only the way a real COG soldier could sigh happily after a good clean kill. And it had been a clean kill. One bullet straight to the head, dropped like a sack of potatoes, never bleeding until it hit the ground.

It was thirty minutes later till they had shot the last locust. It was Marcus who killed the last and he hooted with victory. Everyone clapped him on the back and he said the words that meant the most to her. "We need to go and find somewhere safe so we can sleep before we all pass the hell out." he said in his exhaustion. Ezra smiled at that and he smiled at her. They all needed an entire month to sleep, and if they kept having nights like this they would never sleep again. "Come on Delta, lets find some high ground to sleep on." said Marcus as he started to walk. Everyone fell in line and as they walked Baird slowed Ezra down so he could look at her.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, her sleepy eyes drooping. He smiled at her and pushed her forward to make her keep walking. She stumbled slightly but trekked on like everyone else. She continued until she almost fell. A strong arm secured around her waist to help steady her. "I got you." said Baird as he helped her stay on feet. "Thanks." she said as she tried to get over her exhaustion. She put one foot in front of the other, never giving back into her sleep as they continued on.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Cole tell me that is a sink." demanded Ezra. Cole laughed and told her what she wanted to hear. She walked up to it and turned it on. Running clean cold water sprayed forth from the faucet. She dipped her fingers into the water and she sighed happily. "Cole you might want to leave. I am going to clean up." she said as she looked up to him. He had found this place that they would be staying out the night. So he should get to go first, but she didn't care. He was going to have to wait for her to finish. He laughed and left the bathroom. There was no shower or bathtub, but a sink would work just fine for her.

She stripped quickly and started to take the water and splash it all over dirty skin. The cold water felt great and she sighed happily. She reached into her pack and pulled out a small bar of soap. She worked it into a lather and started to spread the suds over her body. She smiled as a fresh clean scent hit her. She scrubbed her skin viciously in want to be clean. She rinsed her skin clean and she felt more awake then she had two hours ago after battle.

She placed her head under the faucet to wet her hair. With the soap she washed her hair. Lathering it gently and smiling at the soft tendrils that started to become like there were supposed to be. She rinsed her hair and wrung the water from it. She wasn't completely clean but it was enough that she felt a lot better. After air drying she redressed and sighed at the feeling of putting back on dirty clothes. As she finished pulling on her pants Baird entered the room.

He stopped upon seeing her. "You look pretty when you aren't cover in blood and gun powder." he said as he started to strip his armor off. "Thank you. What are you doing?" she asked as she wondered why he was stripping. "I am trying to hurry and get this over with before all the guys pile in here in hopes to clean up." he said as he turned to her and pointed to his shoulder straps to his shoulder armor. She laughed as she came forward. Her nimble fingers working quickly at unbuckling the straps. "Thank you." he said as he shrugged off the armor.

It took another two minutes to remove it all with her help. "Here." he said as he pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. She let her eyes fall over his torso. He was strong, well muscled. As he moved she could see his sleek muscles move under his skin. She tried to look away as he walked to the sink, his back turned to her. She could see the corded muscle of his back. He like the rest of these men where the epitome of the perfect COG soldiers.

He didn't strip completely, for men they only wanted to feel fresh. Of course a good shower would have been nice to any man. But they didn't understand that they could just completely bathe by using the faucet like she had. He scrubbed his skin with his soap and splashed water on himself so he could wash away the soap. She watched as soap and water trailed down his back. Instantly she traced the trail with her finger.

He stopped what he was doing and turned slightly to look over his shoulder at her. "What are you doing?" he asked. She just shrugged and continued to let her nail trail down his skin. It sent chills up his back and he liked the way it felt. "You going to wash my back?" he said as he looked at her again. She laughed at him, but nodded.

She splashed water on his back and took his soap away from him. She lathered it thickly between her hands and then handed the soap back. She pressed her hands to his shoulders and started to kneed the muscles under her hands. He groaned and shut his eyes and grasped the edges of the sink. As she washed his back, she also gave him a nice massage. Her fingers pressed, dug, and rubbed into his muscles. He needed this, and it felt amazing. She was a wonder to him. She worked down his back just like so until she reached the tops of his pants. He figured she would stop there but she didn't. She then went back up to his shoulders, slowly in a deep massage. She did this several more times until she rinsed his back off with cold water.

She moved away from his after she was done. He turned around to face her and he looked somewhat like he was scared. Before she knew what was completely going on, Baird backed her into the wall behind her. "Baird?" she asked in confusion but her only answer was his lips pressed against hers. And it was about time that someone made the first move between them. Even though neither of them would say anything about it. Her eyes widened and her hands went to his chest. His bare chest with soft down hair that was only in the center of his chest tickled her fingers. She meant to push him away, but she couldn't with feeling his warm skin on her hands, or his mouth on hers.

Their mouths moved together in a passion that she didn't know they could have during a war. It had been a long time since she had been intimate with anyone, and she was beginning to wonder why she let her need for revenge stop her from such a carnal need as being close to someone. She opened herself against his lips and he darted his tongue into her mouth and reveled in its silky smoothness. Together their tongues danced together as his arms slipped around her waist, and her arms wound around his neck, pulling each other closer.

His hands moved down and slid under her butt, picking her up as he squeezed her. She giggled against his mouth and wrapped her legs around his waist. He broke the kiss to trail kisses down her neck so she could breath. Her hands found their way into his hair and she gave him a gentle tug. He moaned against the hallow of her throat, beginning to become turned on. This was going exactly as he wanted it to be. He was finally starting something with this woman that he knew would be long lasting. He felt such a connection to this woman, and he wanted to be with her in everyway he could think of.

But what they had started was not to meant to be finished today. A sharp knock on the door pulled them apart and made them straighten their clothes. "What?" Baird called. "Baby, I would like to clean up too." said Cole through the locked door. She looked back to Baird in question. She couldn't help to be angry in the thought he had locked the door. He just smiled at her. Yes, it was true. He had planned on coming in here in front of her so he could start something, and now she knew that. She glared at him and he just shrugged. "I will be out in a moment." said Baird as he continued to stare at her.

He heard grumbling but also heard Cole walk away. "You're an asshole." she whispered as Cole got out of hearing distance. "No I am not." he said, still breathless from kissing her. "Yes you are. I told you how I felt. I told you that I couldn't allow myself something like what we have." she said, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"Ezra, I can't afford the little bit of happiness that I could have with you. Sorry if I am being selfish about it, but I am not going to stop trying. Woman, I am falling for you and I will be damned to lose you to this war without ever letting you know how I felt about it." he said as he backed her into the wall again. Tears fell down her face as he came to stand an inch from her.

Before he could do anything she threw herself into his chest, crying. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I do care about you a lot Baird. I also have to help finish this war. I have to let every Locust I can pay for what happened to my baby." she cried against him. "And together as an entire, Delta squad too, we will do just that. We will make them pay. But you have to let your guard down with this relationship. I am not going to let you slip through my fingers. I will do anything to make you see reason." he said into her hair. So now this was a relationship? Well what the hell else was it? She wondered as she breathed in his fresh scent.

She looked up at him and he was nothing short of serious. She nodded and kissed him then. She was seeing reason though. She wanted this man as much as he wanted her, and it would be crazy not to act on her deep emotional feelings that she felt of him. She broke the kiss though before it could become serious again. "We need to get out of here before Cole comes back." she said as she rested her head on his chest. She listened to the rapid pace of his heart beat. He smoothed down her hair and nodded.

**Again not my best, but I am atleast still writing...**


	14. Chapter 12: Lovers

**Author's Note: Well well well, I know what you are thinking, long time no see, well you are correct and I am sorry for the long delay. Gots lots and lots of stuff going on and I hit a horrible writers block month... I needed a break but hopefully I will be back on some more since I have had a month to think about where I want this story to go. So here is the latest installment and I hope you like it, if not too bad... I tried lol. Also I haven't even proof read this, I hate proof reading, so if you see errors let me know so I can got back and fix them. thanks for reading!**

They hadn't had time to pick up their relationship, but they definitely were together. There was no more of this dancing around the idea, they were indeed together, despite the war. Like now they were under heavy fire, and Baird did everything he could to cover Ezra's back. She tried not to notice him covering her and only her, but it was hard to miss him making sure she stayed safe. She let it go though, she was a tough woman and could cover herself for the most part, but deep down she couldn't help but feel that it was a very sweet gesture.

She laid down some cover fire for Marcus but Baird got the kill before she could. She kept her cool though. It didn't matter who killed the most Locusts and it didn't matter that he was just trying to protect the woman he was falling for. She just kept telling herself over and over again that it was him just being her man. That was hard to do though. She knew he was hers and she was his, but she could take care of herself. She could, she swore to herself that she could take care of herself. It was as if she forgot what happened only a month ago, where she was laying in rubble dying. She swore to herself and kept shooting.

In all his covering her, he forgot about himself though. It turned out, they made a very imposing team together. A locust broke through their line and Ezra was the only one quick enough to kill the locust before it got to close to Baird. She shot it in the head with her Bolton pistol, the only firearm she had bullets left for. She was lucky that she had enough that she had a lot of ammo for this pistol.

Another locust broke the line and Baird put his chainsaw to it. So much for cleaning up a week ago. Everyone of them were blood soaked and dirty again. Ezra tried not to watch as blood sprayed into the air like the art work only a COG soldier could make. But she couldn't look away. This was the only type of art these people knew. Blood and guts. It was their specialty.

Marcus dropped the last grub as soon as Baird disengaged himself from the grub he just chainsawed. Marcus looked down at a fallen Locust and swore under his breath. It was wearing a COG COMM unit. "Anya you copy?" he asked as he picked the COMM unit up and listened for a reply. "Go ahead Delta." she said. "Shit!" he swore loudly and held up the COMM unit for everyone to see. For the past week they had met relentless hordes of Locusts and this was why. They were wearing COMM units and listening to their position. Damned bastards were smarter than they looked. Everyone in the Delta squad cursed loudly and in her anger, Ezra put another bullet in the dead grub's head.

Marcus angrily threw the COMM to the ground and stomped it angrily. "These bastards are smarted than we are thinking they are Anya. We are going to have to quit radio use. They are wearing our COMM units." he said. He didn't have to be near Anya to know she swore bitterly. "Loud and clear Delta. No more radio use for position lay out." she said, her voice terse with anger.

"Damn this is not good." said Dom. Now that they were looking at every fallen grub, and they were all wearing one. "You don't think there is someone on the inside supply these to them?" asked Dom as he looked to Marcus. "I wouldn't think so, but we have to find out what is going on." said Marcus as he started to move forward, trying not the be overly angered that they had been giving away their position the entire time. Delta squad couldn't help but let this sting their pride soldier's pride.

They continued on, no longer coming in contact with any locust after quitting positioning over the COMM. As they continued everyone of the Delta members tried to think of what was going on. They weren't getting close to figuring out anything on how to end this war. And they weren't any closer to finding a safe place in which they wouldn't be bothered with the locust's either.

"I think if we just kill the queen they will all die. They remind me of ants so I think that would kill them all off." said Baird as he picked his way through some rubble, being watchful for the enemy. "I think that might be the dumbest thing I have heard yet." said Marcus over his shoulder. That was one thing that Ezra was beginning to tire of. Yes, Baird was an asshole, and for the most part he wasn't overly serious about anything. But when he was serious he seemed to always got shot down by Marcus.

She was tired of that. She was tired that Marcus couldn't just tell Baird that he thought that could be a good theory. She would have spoken up but these men would see it only as her speaking up for the man she was falling for. So she kept quite.

"Actually Marcus, it would be a good theory. We haven't encountered any females other than the Queen so I see how Baird could think that." said Dom. Ezra looked to Dom and smiled. If she couldn't stick up for Baird at least Dom or Cole could. Marcus sighed but never missed a step. "But how do we know we haven't run into females? Do you know what a female locust even would look like?" asked Marcus as he jumped off a rock he had stepped up onto.

"Well no, I don't but I am sure they would look different." said Dom, standing up for himself. "You never know Fenix, Baird might be right." said Cole as he hefted his gun onto his shoulder as he walked. "Yeah, and he might very well be wrong." said Marcus quickly. "Yeah, I might be wrong but at least I do not look like you." said Baird angrily.

The trekked on in silence after that comment until they found a place to settle down for the night.

Xxxxxxxx

She tried to wipe away most of the locust blood from her face, but it didn't work. It was as if the blood of a locust just couldn't be scrubbed off, it had to washed off with hot soapy water. She gave up and handed the dirty cloth back to Baird. He laughed at her efforts and took the cloth. They decided to share the room together, even if it was the only room without a bed. They didn't mind, as long as they were together.

They had already discarded their armor to the floor and now Baird waited to see if she would discard anything else before he did. He didn't want to assume that it was alright to just strip. She turned and looked at him. She wore a pretty smile through the blood and grime on her face. He couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips. Instantly her lips responded to his. She pressed herself into him and the tip of his tongue darted out and licked her bottom lip. She opened her mouth and his tongue slipped into her mouth to explore the dark crevices of what was her.

As they continued to kiss, her hands slid under his shirt to feel his strong muscles. Her finger tips danced over his stomach and up to his pecks. He mumbled incoherently on her lips and she giggled. He broke the kiss and took off his shirt and he turned back to her and lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it onto her gear. His lips were back on hers and his hands were on her too. He had waited for this for a long time and now that she was in his hands and she was all his, he felt as if he wouldn't get enough of her.

Their mouths danced together, their tongues fenced and their hands sought to touch every inch of each other. His hands made their way under her bra, touching the peaks of her breasts. Her hands found their way to the tops of his pants. He groaned as she popped the button of his pants. Suddenly it occurred to him that this was going to be their first time sexually, and they were going to be having sex on the ground, covered in blood and dirt. He should have felt very repulsed by what they were going to do but he didn't.

He wanted her tonight no matter what had happened earlier that day. While they kissed she managed to undo his zipper as well and he undid her bra. He slipped the bra off he body and he broke his kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he backed her up into the wall. His lips left a blazing trail from her lips to her neck. He could taste her sweat, her pulse, and the blood of a locust, but that didn't stop him.

Her hands ran up into his hair, tugging at his hair as his bit the fleshy part of her shoulder. It was nearly too much for her. It was something she had never admitted, but she liked it rougher than normal people, and when his teeth sank into her flesh, almost enough to draw blood, she hissed in pleasure. He smiled and suckled on the flesh, drawing blood to the surface to leave a love bruise. She yanked back on his hair, making his head snap back, drawing his teeth over the flesh. She murmured how it felt good and he growled at her.

In one single motion he sat her on ground and started to pull at her pants. She helped kick off her pants and then they moved to his. Once both were naked he went back to exploring her body. He kissed the center of breasts and then trailed small kisses to her right breast. While his mouth covered the rosy peak of her nipple, about the cleanest flesh of her body except for her nether region,, she grasped his already erect phallus into her hand. He bit down on her nipple on accident as pleasure shot up from his manhood to his stomach. Pain blossomed through her nipple and into the rest of her right breast and she reveled in the pain. It was splendid in her mind. When she only made a noise of pleasure he proceeded on suckling on her rosy peak as she slowly stroked her finger tips over the head of his phallus.

She would never know how mush that little bit of touch did to him. His breathing quickened and he stopped pleasing her and dropped his head to the center of her chest. Their skin clung together in their sweat and dirt. He didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to hold on to this moment. It had been a long while since he had been with a woman and she was about to undo him and he hadn't even been able to undo her yet. That was usually how he worked. He usually would please the woman first then himself. He wasn't sure that was going to happen this time. "Hurry Baird." she whispered as she stopped stroking him.

He nodded breathlessly and started to insert himself into her. This was no time for romance novel sex, this was just pure sex. He wished it would have been love making, but it didn't feel like it. They were meeting a primal need for one another while they were dirty. It must have been severely disgusting if they were in their right minds, but seeing how they weren't they just went for it. He buried himself in her to the hilt and groaned at the feeling of her soft wet flesh around himself. She gave him a moment for she too had missed the feeling of a man inside of her. But before long she ground her hips into him making him slide even further than he had thought he could have. He choked on pleasure momentarily before he started to move within her.

Her entire body shook as he pumped himself once then twice. This was going to be short lived for both of them due to the amount of time they had lived without sex. She bit her lip, trying not to voice how good this felt as he started to pump faster, deeper into her. She met him with the same amount of ardor as she also move against him. And as they both knew before long they had reached their climax. She went first, her breath hitching into her throat and her eyes rolling back into her head. Her body trembled excitedly and her orgasm racked her uncontrollably. Her legs which were around his waist squeezed him as if she squeezed this moment between them for all time.

He then followed her. He gave out a grunt and fell on top of her. He could almost no breath as he spilled his seed into her. They stayed like that, him laying on top of her, trying to catch his breath. It was only after a few moments that she realized that he had spilled inside of her. She wanted to feel regret but it never came. It was like as if she knew that this union would not result in a child. Relief filled her and she lovingly stroked his hair. "I can't move, sorry." he said, all of his exhaustion came forth and he couldn't even roll off of her. "That is okay, I don't want you to move." she panted into a whisper. He smiled and kissed her breasts, which he was using as a pillow. "You are beautiful." he said, as he stroked her thigh where some of her angry scarring marred her leg from the gunshot wound. Tears pricked her eyes because she knew he was being honest. She had really thought that was something she would never hear again; someone saying that she was beautiful and meaning it. "Thank you." whispered as she kissed the top of his head.

Their moment was cut short though, someone knocked at the door. "Start getting up, your watch is next Baird." came the tired voice of Dom. Baird cursed and with her help he got up. She helped him dressed, the entire time looking as his wonderful nakedness. She smiled as he put on his pants, she wished they would have had more time together tonight. "Get some sleep, I will wake you up in a little bit for your turn." he said as he put on his shirt. He was too tired to put on armor so he just hefted his gun over his shoulder and kissed her soundly before leaving.

She dressed quietly and then laid down to get some rest.

**AN: I know gross sex when I add things like they are dirty and gross, but well just being realistic....**


	15. Author's Note

**Okay so I know a lot of you are probably wondering where I have been. Well for the most part school. I have so much school ahead of me that I am literally going to have to take long breaks from my fanfics. Good news is that I have the summer off, meaning no job or school, meaning plenty of free time. I know now you are all probably thinking yay you are going to finish this finally. Here is the bad news... I am revising it. I so far have nearly finished revising the first chapter. Okay, so most of it is the same gist, I am just trying to add more detail to the characters. I know some of you are going to be angry with me but I really feel that I have a good story that needs to be really revised. So I am at a loss right now though. I don't know if I should take the story down, or keep it up and just put the revision under its own name. I will let everyone know what I decided to do. Until then, give me your thoughts please. **


	16. Author's Note about Revision!

**Okay I posted the revision of the first chapter. The story is called _Hell and Heaven (Revised) _All posts from now on will be under the revision, so if you have favorited or added this story to your subscribtion, please do the same for the other one. I decided to keep the original up, so if anyone wants to see the major changes can do so. I am hoping the more I revise the better the character development will become. I hope that everyone enjoys it and I am sorry to anyone who will be angry for me for deciding that story could be better than it is. I just really feel that I can write this story with so much more detail then I have been. So please go check it out and I hope you like it :)**


	17. Anger

**Okay I know my last post said I wasn't going to write anymore, but I seriously was just angry and out of my element. I have worked too hard on this story for dumb flamers to let me down. I am a strong person so I am just saying now: If you don't like my story please feel free to tell me all about it because I don't put up with flamers. I will go out of my way for everyone to read what you couldn't wait to share with me. I think it is rather uncalled for to straight up email someone in all caps saying "You have wasted your time writing this trash because the original is better". Last time I checked I wrote the original so I think I am more than capable to be trusted to write the rewrite! I have am just letting know, and you know who you are and there is more than ten of you, that I don't give a shit if you don't like my story. If you dont like it... I dunno don't read it! It is simple if you like the original just keep reading it over and over again. I don't care what any of you think. I appreciate the positive praise I do. But for all you who think that you are giving "constructive critism" I have something to say to you: First of all just because you are in your first year of college and you are taking a college 1101 English class doesn't mean you know jack about english, second you are reading fanfiction. The last time I checked not a one of us are getting paid to write any of this. It is soley on a fun level to write this stuff but understand this: half of the reason most of the stories that you read and like that never get finished is because of stupid flamers who thought they needed to let the author know they were doing a shitty job. This site does not pay me to write like a pro, so don't act like the world is crumbling around you because you read something on that you didn't like. Don't take it so seriously that you feel that you need to tell the author that something ruined the entire story. Honestly if you think you could do better write your own story instead of telling someone that theirs suck. Third and most important, hardly any of you would know what constructive critism was if if bit you on the ass. I feel that a lot of you need to get a life and not take this as seriously as you do. When it becomes something that I get a pay check for, which I know it never will, then maybe I try harder to write for the overly picky people. But for everyone who just emailed me with pleas to not quit I thank you all. I feel that so many people that i didn't realize were invested into this story so I will make sure that I finish it so I can at least say that the people who were faithful got to see this story through. I am almost done developing the last few chapters btw I just have to get the revision up to the point where I can write the ending. **


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